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MEMOIRS 



WA SHINGTON. 



MRS. C. M. IURKLAND 




WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NEW YORK: 

D. APPLETON & CO., 346 & 348 BROADWAY. 

LONDON : 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. ^-* S} 



' 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S56, 
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
Southern District of New York. 



* V V 1\ 



TO 

ALL MY YOUNG FRIENDS, 

KNOW N AND IISKSO W N , 

AND PARTICULARLY TO MY OWN SONS AND DAUGHTERS, 

THIS ATTEMPT TO INTRODUCE 

WASHINGTON 

TO THEIR MOKE INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE AND TENDERER REGARD, 

AND 

SO TO MAKE HIS GOODNESS AND PATRIOTISM 

IRRESISTIBLY INSPIRING TO THEM, 

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. 



PREFACE. 

" Another Life of "Washington ! " 

Anticipating this very natural exclamation, let the 
new aspirant be allowed a few words of explanation, 
if not apology. Abundant and excellent are the biog- 
raphies of "Washington, certainly. Yet there seems 
room for one especially adapted to young people — not 
children, exactly, but the older pupils in our schools, 
and some learners who have clone with schools. 

For these, the very fulness of the best lives of 
"Washington renders them unsuitable. Details of bat- 
tles and statesmanship, the cruelties of war and poli- 
tics, are not particularly interesting or instructive to 
the young. It seemed not undesirable to offer them 
some simple memoirs of our great benefactor and 
friend, in which the space usually occupied by public 
affairs should be filled with what relates more particu- 
larly to Washington himself, too generally looked upon 



VI PREFACE. 

by the young as a cold, far-off", statue-like person, ad- 
mirable rather than imitable, lit for reverence but not 
for love. 

This idea of him has grown up very naturally ; for 
one who attempts to write his life finds so many great 
things to tell of, that there is little place left for lesser 
traits and incidents. This very volume, begun with 
express intent to set forth the private and familiar, not 
the grand side of "Washington's life and character, 
proved insufficient to contain at once the mere sketch 
of his doings and the more personal anecdotes and tra- 
ditions respecting him, which last would make a vol- 
ume, of themselves. All that could find space are 
here, but many were necessarily forced out, lest too 
voluminous a work should discourage youthful readers. 
In making selections, anecdotes less known have been 
preferred ; and some of the personal details were taken 
down from the conversation of contemporaries of Wash- 
ington, still able, in our day, to enjoy the homage 
which ever attends his name. 

New York, October, 1856. 



CONTENTS 



( 



CHAPTER I. 



Washington's private papers — Little box in the State Department — Virginia Alma- 
nac — Care of Washington in preserving and preparing these papers — Variety of 
6ubjects treated in them — The use that has been made of them by his biographers 
— A more private and personal account still possible, partly by addition, partly by 
omission, 1 

CHAPTER II. 

English ancestors of Washington — Letter of Sir Henry — Family annals — Curious 
tradition in England — -Intermarriages in Virginia — Washington's birthplace — 
Old house suffered to go to ruin — Plain and simple manners of the day in Virginia 
— Advantages of these to Washington — Associations with the Potomac and its 
shores, 11 

CHAPTER III. 

Mr. Augustin Washington — Merits of Mr. Weems's little book — Family legends re- 
ported by him — Lesson in generosity — Another in natural religion — Country life 
and the love of it, 23 

CHAPTER IV. 

The mother of Washington— Her characteristics and those of her children— Her 
early estimate of her eldest son— What he was in youth— His only sister's re- 
semblance to him— Mrs. W.'s only weakness— Simplicity of her manners—" Little 
George "—Obligations of great men to their mothers— Almost forgotten— Duty 
and virtue of Obedience, 31 

CHAPTER V. 

Out-of-door habits — Alfred the Great, and Napoleon — Influence on a generous mind 
of wide possessions and the power they confer — Plantation life — Field school — 






VI 11 CONTENTS. 

" Old Hobby "—Mother's practice of reading with her children— The Great Audit— 
The widow's lot— Was Washington deficient in tenderness '—Softening power of 
piety— Early love affairs— Washington's later gravity— Love of children— Its 
advantages — Proofs of goodness of heart, ... ... 39 

CHAPTER VI. 

A new school and new master — No Latin— A good head can make more out of one 
language than a poor one out of half a dozen — Washington head boy, of course — 
Military sports and national predilections— Washington a man of peace, after all — 
Early handwriting — Neatness of his school papers — Practice in mercantile forms 
— Eobust physical exercises one grand clement in his training— Pitching a stone- 
Love of horses and riding, 53 

CHAPTER VII. 

Washington little indebted to books — Early reading limited, but good— His mother's 
idea of true kindness— Habit of writing ;i great deal — Its advantages and possible 
disadvantages — How it affected Washington's after life— roetry book — " Rules of 
Civility and Decent Behavior"— Their influence on his character — His style of 
writing, excellent, plain, pure English, 62 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Esteem of his brothers for Washington — Lawrence always his friend and benefactor — 
Fortunes of the family — George at Mount Vernon — Receives a midshipman's 
warrant — Gives way to his mother's wishes and stays at home — Learns military 
tactics and fencing — Contents himself with learning to be a good surveyor — Ex- 
treme accuracy of his papers — Old desk — Curious memorandum, . . 75 

CHAPTER IX. 

First surveying tour — Groves of sugar trees — Indian dance — People that wouldn't 
speak English — Rough living — Good pay— Tender passion — Poetic taste not very 
prominent — Lord Fairfax — Planter life — High-bred manners — Letters to ladies, 83 

CHAPTER X. 

Important epoch in life — Appointment as adjutant-general against the French — 
Called upon to go to the West Indies— Matter-of-fact observations there— Seized 
with small-pox — Washingtonian touch — Returns home — Succeeds to Mount Ver- 
non on the death of his brother — Circumstances force him too early into affairs 
— Becomes a member of the Masonic fraternity 97 

CHAPTER XI. 

Contemporary history— George II. and his court— Rudeness of manners — General 
corruption — Incorrect spelling— Swift— Pope— Bolingbrokf — Chesterfield— Lady 
M. W. Montague— Burke— Pitt— Marlborough— Admiral Vernon— Duke of Cum- 
berland—Flora Macdonald— C. J. Fox— George III.— Wolfe— Burns— Cowper— 
Continental European sovereigns, 108 



CONTENTS. ix 



CHAPTER XII. 



Preparation— Military duties— Skill recognized by the governor— Embassy to the 
French commandant— Perilous journey— Indian Queen, . . . . us 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Report to the Governor— Journal published in England— French and Indians more 
troublesome than ever— Supplies very slow— Colonel "Washington rather indig- 
naut— Death of Jumonville— Misrepresentations respecting it— The mild and 
peaceful character of Washington's mind, 134 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Ill success at first— Surrender of Fort Necessity— French aggressions— Complaints- 
General Braddock's defeat, w 144 

CHAPTER XV. 

Death of General Braddock— His estimate of Washington— Discontents— Exulta- 
tion of the French— New appointments— Terrible alarm of the people— Emotion 
of Washington— Journey to Boston— Introduction to Miss Mary Philipse— Es- 
teem in which Washington was held, I55 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Active people apt to be low-spirited when they are ill— Health brings enterprise- 
Adoption of the hunting-shirt— Difference of opinion on road-making— Vexatious 
delays— Benefits of experience— More remonstrances— Resignation, . . 103 

CHAPTER XVII. 

A new acquaintance and new interest— A fair lady with a fair fortune— Marriage and 
housekeeping— Handsome compliment and natural embarrassment— View of plan- 
tation-life and its requirements— Fashions of the day— Rural life not exempt from 
them 175 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Quiet life— Training for the future— Country habits— Hunting and surveying- 
Boundless hospitality— Dancing school— Sick neighbors— Small-pox among the 
negroes— The bread-and-butter ball— Exact calculations, .... 183 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Washington a domestic man— Attention to his step-children— Lists for England- 
Mrs. Washington a doting mother— Washington strict but not severe— Generally 
beloved— Always doing service— Death of Miss Custis and Washington's emo- 
tion—Difficulties of Virginia housekeeping and farming— Two temperance ser- 
mon8 196 

CHAPTER XX. 

Public affairs not forgotten— Independent companies— Organized resistance— Fairfax 
Resolves— Economy and self-denial— Non -importation act— Boston Port Bill- 
Public fast— Patrick Henry's opinion of Washington, . . 210 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Remonstrance changing to hostility— An army to he raised— A general wanted— Sev- 
eral candidates— Choice falls on Washington— Ilis acceptance and stipulation- 
Letters to his wife, 221 

CHAPTER XXII. 

The hattle of Bunker Hill already fought— Washington hurries on— Takes command 
under the Great Elm at Cambridge — The impression he makes— Letters to Gen- 
eral Gage — Want of money, clothing, powder, and all the necessaries of war- 
Sarcasms cast upon the supineness of the army and its general — Cares and troubles 
of Washington— His patience under them, 232 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Doings at Mount Vernon— Some fears of the enemy — Washington's confidence in his 
agent — Care for the poor — Mrs. Washington's journey to head-quarters — Respect 
of the people — Her influence — Rural tastes — Plain, generous hospitality, . 255 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Distress of Boston— Anxieties on both sides— Both actuated by British spirit— Arro- 
gance of the invaders — Burlesque comedy outdone by General Putnam — Failure 
of Lord Percy — Resolve to evacuate the town — Hurried retreat — Triumphal entry 
of American troops, 266 

CHAPTER XXV 

Transfer of the troops to New York — Difficulties there — Machinations of the Tories 
— British head-quarters on Staten Island — Declaration of Independence— Letter 
to " George Washington, Esq." — Battle of Long Island — Dreadful loss — Retreat 
across the East River, 279 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Discouragement of the army — General Howe threatens New York — Talk of burning 
the city — Washington fortifies Harlem — Cowardice of some of the troops there — 
Retreat to White Plains — Illiterate officers — Disaster there — Capture of Fort 
Washington — Temporary defection of Colonel Reed, 289 

CHAPTER XXYII. 

Lee's advice — His jealousy of Washington — Delays in obeying orders — Endeavoring 
'At make an independent movement, to the injury of the commander-in-chief — 
Cabals against Washington — Lee's capture by the British — Retreat across the Jer- 
seys — Position and prospects of the Army -New powers granted by Congress, 302 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Public patience wearing out— The art of retreating— Recruiting— Some accessions to 
the army give rise to new hopes and new projects— Hard duty— Crossing the Del- 



CONTENTS. • 



-Zu^rT* °f th ° " eSSiaDS - BattI * ° f Trenton-Entrance into Philadelphia 
-Battle of Princeton-Anecdotes of Washington's bravery, . . su 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

AT 7^ r ^°^r nt ^r L:tn,y( ^ «*«*«- of Chad's Ford-and 

vv nite Maish— M inter quarters at Valley For^e— Suffering of tl, t ,, 

-Half-pay for the troops-Alliance with the French-Battle of Monmouih Cm 
CHAPTER XXX. 
Arrival of Count d'Estaing-Hindrances and disasters-Disagreement between French 

348 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Washington at Philadelphia with Congress-Then in the r„„r,t,. i <■ 

phia, . . U6 f remtIon of tbe currency-Kindness of the ladies of Philadel- 

360 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Sufferings of the troops— Treachery of Arnold n.~* 

Letter to Mr. Laurens-itS of T« p~ ° ap * nre . and dea ^ <* Major Andre- 

lenity-Mutinyof the Lf J sL li " % "T ""^ '"^ SUPPreSS lon * 
Franklin, . . . 7 1'^-Seventy on this occasion-Letter to Dr. 

372 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Co-operation of the French fleet and irmv a ™„! r 

operating against Lord C Walls £ Z~tZ o^M ^ ** Vir ^ -'Lafayette 
for the Chesapeafce-WashiSo:, XtS ZXr^ ^ * *" ^ 
beau, visits Mount Vernon for the first «me ste^ne T^ C °" Ut ***«■ 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

393 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

companions in arms-Returns his commission to Con^sf " "*" ^ ° f Us 



398 



XI 1 CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Persona] habits of Washington al home— Anecdote from Watson — Washington an 
early riser— Care of his farm — Reading aloud in tin- evening— Regular at church — 
Abstemious in eating and drinking — His love and care of Mount Vernon, and the 
description he gave of the estate — Attending to other people's affairs — Number of 
letters he wrote while at home, 418 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

State of the Union after the War — Convention for forming the Constitution — Wash- 
ington's progress to New York — His inauguration as flrst President of the United 
States — Labors and excitement afterwards — Severe illness — Death of his mother 
— Her character— How much was her son indebted to her? — Character of his 
wife, 432 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Presidential tour — A careless groom— Observations on the country — Internal im- 
provements—Washington's desire to resign — The remonstrances of his friends 
— Hi> re-election— Difficulties with France — Jay's Treaty — Citizen Genet — Retire- 
ment of "Washington, 447 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Washington's short enjoj merit of repose — His illness, sufferings and death— Funeral 
ceremonies— Grief of the nation— Resolutions of Congress — Request for his re- 
mains— Mrs. Washington's reply — Our responsibilities as countrymen of Wash- 
ington, . 453 

CHAPTER XL. 

Washington's opinions on slavery — His Will and its provisions — His morals — nis re- 
ligion— Testimony of various persons as to his habits of devotion, . . 4C5 



MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 



CHAPTER I. 

Washington's private papers — Little box in the State Department — Virginia Alma- 
nac — Care of Washington in preserving and preparing these papers — Variety of 
subjects treated in them — The use that has been made of them by his biographers 
— A more private and personal account still possible, partly by addition, partly by 
omission. 

In the Department of State, at Washington, is a box 
of manuscripts — three or four cubic feet of them, per- 
haps — all written in the clear, flowing, manly hand of 
George Washington ; every page, almost, and some- 
times the same page more than once, bearing his beau- 
tiful signature — 




The papers are old and yellow ; some of them a 
good deal worn at the edges and in the folds ; others 



2 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. 

hardly legible, being faded copies, on thin paper, taken 
in a copying* press. Some are autograph letters, filled 
and endorsed by the same hand, and tied in bundles 
with red tape ; others are bound books, larger or small- 
er, according as they were intended for mere memo- 
randa or for letters written out at length. Others are 
journals and registers, giving at one time, by their 
characteristic perseverance, for year after year, a life- 
like picture of the even tenor of their owner's agricul- 
tural life ; and again, vivid suggestions of more public 
import by their sudden breaking off, as at the memo- 
rable time when he left Mount Vernon for some post 
of public duty, such as the first Convention, or the 
Presidential chair. These diaries are written on the 
interleavings of the old Virginia Almanac, on the title- 
page of which the date is announced as " in the year 
of our Lord God." 

The memoranda commence January 1, 1768, with- 
out other preface than this : — " Where, how, and with 
whom my Time is spent." The Almanac professes, 
as usual, to contain " The Lunations, Conjunctions, 
Eclipses, the Sun and Moon's Kising and Setting, the 
Rising, Southing and Setting of the Heavenly Bodies ; 
true Places and Aspects of the Planets ; "Weather, &c, 
calculated according to Art." Also, " Entertaining 
Observations for Each Month, and other Pieces of 
Amusement. By T. T. Philomath." On the title-page 
we read — 



LETTERS AND DIARIES PARCHMENTS. 6 

" Thus Year by Year the Reader we present 
Something new matter for to give content ; 
You'll find here, besides the Calendar Part, 
Rare Observations, written with much Art, 
With Verses which to each Month do agree, 
And other things of Mirth and merry glee." 

There are, among the Washington papers, many of 
these books, perhaps forty in all ; each containing, first, 
a calendar, and over and below the calendar on each 
page a verse of sententious wisdom, homely advice, or 
satirical observations on human nature, all couched in 
wretched rhyme. Secondly, ten blank pages, of which 
the first two or three are filled, in Washington's hand, 
with a journal of his own ; the next two by a regular 
register of the weather ; and then one or two by obser- 
vations on farm business. 

The poetry and anecdotes are such as. were, doubt- 
less, palatable at that day, though in ours they might 
be thought a little homely, if not coarse. Very many 
of the books were probably intended to be carried in 
the capacious pockets of their time. One almost won- 
ders where Washington acquired so much taste and 
delicacy as he possessed, when we see how totally de- 
void of these qualities were many publications, that 
seem to have been accepted by society in his youth. 

One considerable parcel in the box consists of di- 
plomas and honorary testimonials from corporations ; 
some of them parchments, with great seals and flowing 
ends of ribbon. 



4 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

He wished to have added his own commission as 
Commander in Chief to the number ; and after he had 
in due form returned it to Congress at Annapolis, he 
wrote to a government official, requesting that it might 
be sent him, saying, playfully, that it might amuse his 
grand children. But the parchment had been filed 
among state papers, and could not be had. It is now 
among the interesting relics of Washington and the 
Revolution, at the Patent office, at the seat of govern- 
ment. 

Intermixed with the letters in Washington's hand- 
writing, are a few addressed to him on various busi- 
ness ; but in general the papers are his own, and afford 
the most unquestionable picture of his mind and char- 
acter that we could possibly desire. 

Besides the papers contained in the box, there are 
in the Department, arranged in presses which occupy 
one entire side of a large room, more than two hundred 
bound volumes of letters to and from Washington ; a 
collection including some of the most interesting docu- 
ments connected with our history ; such as the letters 
of Major Andre, and the correspondence of the traitor 
Arnold. The whole includes a complete view of the 
state of things during the revolutionary war and the 
presidencies of Washington. 

These papers and parchments belong to the United 
States. Those contained in the box were purchased of 
the heirs of Washington by the government, for the 
sum of twenty thousand dollars, and the whole pre- 



IMPOKTANCE OF THE PAPEES TO HISTOEY. 5 

cious deposite is confided to the care of the keeper of 
the Rolls Office, who most courteously shows them to 
any one who comes properly introduced. 

Washington himself prepared the greater part of his 
papers for the public eye, observing that the history of 
the country during his time could not be properly writ- 
ten without a reference to those papers. All who have 
been engaged in writing our history have gladly availed 
themselves of these inestimable materials ; and chiefly 
Judge Marshall and Mr. Sparks, the latter having, with 
infinite labor, given to his country and the world a larger 
portion of Washington's more important letters, with am- 
ple notes and appendixes, making eleven volumes, be- 
sides a Life of their author, in one large octavo volume. 
More recently, Mr. Irving has studied the manuscripts, 
and drawn from them and other sources the Life of 
Washington, now publishing in several large volumes. 

Many other of the biographies of Washington have 
been drawn more or less from the papers in the Rolls 
Office, which must ever, of course, be the most reliable 
and the most ample source of information on the sub- 
ject. 

Yet, after all these researches, so minute and so vo- 
luminous are the records of his daily life which Wash- 
ington, thought it worth while to make, and not only to 
make, but to leave ready for inspection, that there re- 
mained still some personal matter, which, though not 
exactly fitted for the use of the historian, is yet availa- 
ble to the biographer, especially to one desirous above 



6 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. 

all things to find out and exhibit traits of the man, 
rather than of the soldier or the statesman. Wash- 
ington is far better known to his countrymen in the two 
last mentioned characters than in his private one. It 
has even been said that he " had no private character." 
But this opinion is contrary to all the traditions of the 
Washington family, who love to dwell upon the do- 
mestic traits of their august relative, and who think of 
him in his character of uncle, guardian, friend, and 
neighbor, with mingled reverence and affection. 

If there could be any doubt about Washington's 
having intended that all his papers should be at the 
service of the public, motives of delicacy might be 
supposed to interfere with the publication of private 
journals and the details of family affairs ; but the ar- 
rangement and preservation of the papers sufficiently 
show that it was the intention of the writer to lay his 
entire life open ; to offer materials to future biogra- 
phers, and to withhold nothing that might aid the 
world in forming a just estimate of his character. 

How else account for these private papers having 
been left mingled with those of public interest, by a 
man so methodical, so cautious, and so free from all 
suspicion of vanity ? A careful examination of the 
ground leads rather to the conclusion, that having been 
the subject of unbounded calumny, Washington thought 
the best and most complete answer to these sinister im- 
putations, would be to show without reserve what man- 
ner of man he had been, from the beginning, and 



CANDID SELF-REVELATION. 7 

throughout his whole career, as well behind the scenes 
as upon the great stage ; in his home business as well as 
in affairs of world-wide moment ; in his amusements as 
well as in the most serious occupations that ever were 
laid upon mortal man. Here we find him as he was ; 
neither hiding his anger nor parading his charity ; full 
of interest in his own affairs, yet with an ear and hand 
never inaccessible to the unfortunate ; telling as coolly 
what money he lost and won at cards, as on what occa- 
sions he went to church ; recording in one line the ar- 
rival of splendid guests, and the illness of an old negro 
woman ; reproving an overseer ; lecturing a spendthrift ; 
trying to manage the affairs of a troublesome lady ; re- 
counting the performance of the dogs and the fortunes 
of each day's hunt ; ordering handsome things for the 
house and table ;' giving all the particulars of a day's 
ploughing or hoeing ; making out long lists of Mrs. 
Washington's and Miss Custis's finery, to be ordered 
from London, or describing that household implement, 
a mangle ; — in short, chronicling every day's doings, 
without fear or reserve, as one who should say — Here 
I am ; make what you can of me ! 

Purposely to conceal all this truth, and nature, and 
variety, for fear that the exhibition of the private side 
of Washington should lessen the reverence we have 
all been accustomed to feel for the public one, would 
be truly the most irreverent thing we could be guilty 
of. It is substituting for true, heartfelt honor, a kind 
of superstitious image- worship ; parading a statue in- 



8 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

stead of the man, in order that art may ingeniously 
cover up the deficiencies of nature. Washington needs 
very little of this kind of consideration. 

The desire to know every trifling particular that 
can be ascertained about those we admire, is so natural 
that there must be some respectability about it. A 
feeling nothing less than universal cannot be considered 
morbid or unbecoming. Let it be conceded that His- 
tory must give only the dignified aspect of a public 
man ; biography, especially when intended for the 
young, may venture a little lower. When we would 
hold up to young people an example, in which we de- 
sire to interest them, we must, if possible, bring that 
example within their reach, in order to inspire them 
with hope of imitation. The image of Washington 
presiding over armies and senates, however magnificent 
it may be, can only affect us like a picture in the dis- 
tance. We see the grand outline and admire the ef- 
fect, but we can accord only vague and general admi- 
ration. Few expect to be eminent in the cabinet or in 
the field ; and it is natural to look lower for the charac- 
teristics on which our lives are to be modelled. 

Happily for us, Washington, the man, is not wholly 
inaccessible to us, and more happily still, the qualities 
of the man are by his life found to be entirely compat- 
ible with those of the hero, — one of the most valuable 
of facts. He himself said truly, in an address to his 
officers on retiring from the army, " The private vir- 
tues of economy, prudence, and industry will not be 



LIMITED OBJECT OF THIS BOOK. 9 

less amiable in civil life than the more splendid quali- 
ties of valor, perseverance, and enterprise were in the 
field." Such was his modest, abiding sentiment, and 
happy was it for the great and successful soldier that 
he could afford to utter it. Happy is it for us that he 
was enabled to show it in his own case. 

I would by no means be understood as promising 
great things in the way of novelty. No startling facts 
hitherto concealed ; no newly discovered virtues or 
weaknesses, no qualities as yet unsuspected, have re- 
warded my faithful study of the Washington manu- 
scripts. All I propose is as familiar and home-like a 
life of the great man, as can be gathered from his own 
papers and the sayings of his contemporaries, many of 
whom wrote about him ; and in order to make the story 
as interesting as I can to young people, I omit much 
that is usually interwoven with the Life of Washing- 
ton, such as details of battles and of politics ; supplying 
the place of such particulars by extracts from the diary 
of daily life at Mount Vernon, and descriptions of 
Washington's doings, appearance, habits, and manners, 
as reported by himself and his contemporaries. The 
world has long been in possession of the facts ; in this 
book there is some attempt to present them in a homely 
and familiar way, without any departure from the pro- 
found respect which should fill every American heart 
when contemplating the character of Washington. 

The notes which Mr. Sparks collected with infinite 
pains and labor, afford a world of interesting matter, 



10 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

of a more private and personal kind than that which 
he embodies in the text. To these I am particularly 
indebted, though I have sought in many other direc- 
tions for information suited to my purpose. 



CHAPTER II. 

English ancestors of Washington— Letter of Sir Henry— Family annais— Curious 
tradition in England — Intermarriages in Virginia — Washington's birth-place — 
Old house suffered to go to ruin — Plain and simple manners of the day in Virginia 
— Advantages of these to Washington — Associations with tho Potomac and its 
shores. 

The English ancestors of "Washington were of great re- 
spectability, and noted for a spirit of independence and 
patriotism. The name appears in English annals as 
early as the twelfth century. The family appellation 
was originally Hertburn, but William de Hertburn, 
about the middle of the thirteenth century, assumed 
the name of his property, the manor of Wessyngton, 
which, in course of time, came, by means of the ordi- 
nary changes, to be written Washington. One of the 
family, Sir Henry Washington, is celebrated as having 
held the city of Worcester against Fairfax and the 
Parliamentary army, in Cromwell's time. The letter 
he wrote on the occasion is so like what our Washing- 
ton might have written in similar circumstances, that 
we must take the liberty of copying it from Irving's 
Life, Vol. I. page 14. 



12 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. 

" Sik, — It is acknowledged by your books and by 
report of your own quarter, that the king is in some of 
your armies. That granted, it may be easy for you 
to procure his Majesty's commands for the disposal 
of this garrison. Till then I shall make good the trust 
reposed in me. As for conditions, if it shall be neces- 
sitated, I shall make the best I can. The worst I know 
and fear not ; if I had, the profession of a soldier had 
not been begun, nor so long continued, by 

" Your Excellency's humble servant, 

" Henry "Washington." 

Another of the family, Joseph Washington, an emi 
nent lawyer in London, in 1692, translated from the 
Latin one of Milton's political works, which shows him 
to have been an advocate of freedom and the rights of 
the people. We find, by all accounts, Washington's 
ancestry to have been in general patriotic and manly. 

In 1539 the manor of Sulgrave, near Northampton, 
commonly called Washington's manor, a piece of con- 
fiscated property formerly belonging to the monastery 
of St. Andrews, was granted to Lawrence Washington, 
to whose memory and that of his wife is found, in the 
church there, a monument with an inscription, and effi- 
gies in brass of four sons and seven daughters. The 
eldest of these sons had a still more numerous family, 
having been endowed with sixteen children, and his 
eldest son after him had fourteen — seven sons and 
seven daughters. The second and fourth of these sons, 



1657.] CUKIOUS TRADITION. 13 

who very naturally thought it prudent to look for a fu- 
ture some where else than on the patrimony, were the 
John and Lawrence who emigrated to Virginia about 
1657. 

In the pretty little English village of Cookham, 
in Berkshire, not very far from the royal precincts of 
Windsor Castle, many tombs of the Washington family 
are extant, and the inhabitants of that place insist not 
only that Mr. Augustin Washington married his second 
wife, Mary Ball, there, but even that George Washing- 
ton himself was born there in a house still pointed out. 
But when tradition goes so far as to show a tree that 
he planted, we are obliged to demur a little, and find 
it difficult to extend our faith beyond the probability, 
or something like it, that Mary Ball may have been a 
native of Cookham.* - 

We cannot help feeling some interest in every tri- 
fling particular relating to the Washington family, 
though General Washington himself cared but little 
about his pedigree. Men of his stamp do not think of 
borrowing honor. When he had become famous, Sir 
Isaac Heard, of the Herald's office in London, took 
pains to trace back the ancestry of the new wonder, 
and wrote to him for such particulars as might be in 
his possession. In the answer, Washington says : — 
" This is a subject to which I confess I have paid but 
very little attention. My time has been so much occu- 
pied in the busy and active scenes of life from an early 

* See Appendix. No. 1. 



14 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. L 1657 ' 

period of it, that but a small portion could have been 
devoted to researches of this nature, even if my inclina- 
tion or particular circumstances should have prompted 
to the inquiry." 

When family affection and kind offices were in ques- 
tion, he seems to have been active in tracing relation- 
ships. His last will shows that he remembered the re- 
motest ; and we know that when he was making that 
will, he caused inquiries to be made, both in England 
and the United States, for unknown relatives to whom 
he might leave memorials ; but we can discover no re- 
search prompted by pride or ambition. He had nei- 
ther time nor inclination to turn aside to visit the tomb 
of any Jupiter Ammon of the Old World. We should 
have been surprised to find him opening a correspond- 
ence with the Herald's office, or even entering with 
alacrity upon researches suggested there. 

Augustin Washington was twice married ; first to 
Jane Butler, who left him two sons, and secondly to 
Mary Ball, characterized on her tomb and known to 
history as " Mary, the mother of Washington," a suffi- 
cient distinction. Little is known of the father of 
George Washington, except that he was a handsome, 
stout, strong man, prosperous and happy, and much 
respected by his neighbors, and that he died at the 
age of forty-nine. We have reason to believe he was 
a man of sense and virtue. It is pleasant to think so, 
and to find tradition confirming the impression. Tra- 
dition loves the marvellous, and might easily have 



1657.] SETTLEMENT OF THE FAMILY. 15 

made out George Washington to have been the mirac- 
ulous product of bad antecedents, like Eugene Sue's 
heroes and heroines, whose virtues are the growth of 
the very circumstances which are sometimes rep- 
resented as the excuse for every degree of criminal- 
ity. 

"Washington's great great grandfather, John Wash- 
ington, came over from England with his brother, in 
1657, and settled in Westmoreland county, Virginia, 
where both bought lands on the Northern Neck, a tract 
lying between the Potomac and the Rappahannock 
rivers. John took up his residence at Bridge's Creek, 
married Ann Pope, and became a prosperous planter. 
He commanded the troops raised by Virginia and Ma- 
ryland to repel the intrusions of certain Indian tribes, 
and was a good and spirited citizen ; honored by his 
contemporaries, as we judge by their naming the parish 
after him, a record which endures to this day. 

Smyth, a very angry tory, who suffered for his 
loyalty during the revolution, says : — " General Wash- 
ington is descended from a family of good repute, in 
the middle rank of life, now residing in the settlement 
of Chotank ; every individual planter in this numerous 
settlement being actually related to him by blood." 

The family continued to reside at Bridge's Creek 
for nearly eighty years. There was born Augustin 
Washington, grandson of the original settler, and to 
him on the 22d of February, (N. S.) of the year 1732, 
that great son, destined by nature and Providence — by 



16 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1732. 

character and by fortune — to render the family name 
immortal. 

George Washington was born in the parish of 
Washington, in a lonely and plain farm-house, near 
the Potomac, that happy river, beloved by him to the 
last day of his life, and whose every wave is glorified 
by indelible association with his memory. No por- 
tents marked the day, which was probably as cold as 
Greenland, for February has its sharp bite, even in 
Virginia. Washington himself says in his Diary, of 
another February day there, (Feb. 20th, 1772,) " At- 
tempted to ride to the mill, but the snow was so deep 
and crusty, even in the track that had been made, that 
I chose to tie my horse half way and walk there." 

There is a whole picture of his birth morning in 
that little sentence. A wide expanse of deep snow, 
with perhaps a single track through it ; the general 
blank broken only by here and there a clump or fringe 
of evergreens, which some wit has said ought to be 
called " never-greens," so gloomy is their color com- 
pared with that of summer foliage. A calm quiet 
reigning over the face of Nature ; the cattle shivering 
under the sheds, and fowls huddled in every sheltered 
corner ; not even the sound of an occasional wheel on 
the snow-covered road, to give a hint of the going on 
of ordinary life in the bitter atmosphere. 

There, in that old farm-house, which was so old- 
fashioned and dilapidated, after the occupation of so 
many generations of Washingtons, that the family did 



1732.] OLD FAKM-HOUSE. 17 

not think it worth preserving many years longer ; a 
" four-roomed house with a chimney at each end," 
which chimney was carried up on the outside, — at ten 
o'clock in the morning, was born a little boy, fair- 
haired and long-limbed, but so much like other little 
boys that it is hardly probable even the most sagacious 
of the neighbors thought him likely to become one of 
the great powers of the earth. There were boys in the 
house before he came, too, for he was the child of a 
second marriage, and had not even the advantage — and 
it was an advantage in those days — of being the eldest 
son. The event, doubtless, seemed a very common- 
place one, unless perhaps to those elder brothers, who, 
being quite young, were probably delighted with the 
" new baby," though they little suspected he was 
to found a new empire. 

It is good to think what may be the future offices 
and destiny of the seemingly insignificant about us. It 
would teach us more respect for each other. 

Alas ! we think not what we daily see 
About our hearths ; — angels that are to be ! 

The family lived very plainly, and the new-comer 
opened his dark blue eyes on a scene no grander than 
may be found in the plainest Virginia or Vermont 
farm-house of our own day. There was, we may be 
sure, a low ceiling ; a great, wide, brick or tile fire- 
place ; a well saved carpet, with a few straw-bottomed 
chairs, and a tall old bedstead with posts like sloop 



18 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1732. 

masts, — such a one as "Washington slept in to the end 
of his life. Perhaps these posts supported white dimity 
curtains, for bed curtains had not then been voted un- 
healthy ; and very likely there were some curious, old, 
black-framed engravings, of favorite heroes or preachers, 
hanging high up on the walls ; and almost surely 

A varnished clock that ticked behind the door. 

We could fancy, from the punctuality of Washington's 
life habits, that the ticking of a clock must have been 
one of the earliest sounds that caught his ear. 

He was baptized April 5th, Mrs. Mildred Gregory 
being his godmother, and Mr. Beverley Whiting and 
Captain Christopher Brooks, godfathers. His early 
home was probably almost as rough and simple as 
Shakspeare's. The farm-houses at the south are plain 
enough, even now, and there are some still extant 
which retain a good many of the old frugal features of 
Washington's early day. The chimneys of such are 
very generally built on the outside, and it is not un- 
common to see a brick oven in the open air, a little re- 
moved from the dwelling for fear of fire. About these 
primitive homesteads are to be found Marigolds, 
Princes' Feathers, and Hollyhocks ; fences lined with 
currant-bushes, and door-yards ornamented with sweet- 
brier, but no Dahlias or Camellias, or rolled gravel 
walks or privet hedges. Utility dominates over all ; 
beauty comes, if at all, mostly by chance. Generally 



1732.] RURAL LIFE AT THE SOUTH. 19 

an old black-looking paling keeps out the less enter- 
prising of the pigs, but over it and under it fowls in- 
numerable find their way, whenever grain is scarce 
about the barn. Yet there is an air of ease and free- 
dom, and one feels always sure of hospitality, the car- 
dinal virtue of the South. The house is the scene of 
quiet and serious business ; nature out of doors seems 
to be at play, and leisure and amusement are associ- 
ated, in the minds of the inhabitants, very much with 
the sunshine and the open sky. In fine weather, some 
of the homely household occupations which pride and 
taste love to keep behind the scenes, are carried on un- 
der the eaves of the farm-house, but this is only that 
good mother Earth may take care of what must within 
doors be cleared up with promptness and toil, neither 
of which our Southern brethren are very fond of. 
The dark-complexioned people, who are a never-failing 
feature of the Virginia home landscape, love the sun- 
shine, even in July, and they never stay under a roof 
when they can help it. This occasions those shrill, 
long-drawn cries and objurgations, which one is apt to 
hear in passing such an old-fashioned dwelling as we 
are speaking of. Bells being not thought of, and 
travellers not frequent, family affairs are largely ex- 
pedited by feminine screamings, which help to enliven 
the general solitariness. 

It was one of the preparatory blessings of George 
Washington's happy lot, that he was bred in this plain 
and simple way. It made him easy to please, fond of 



20 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1732. 

wholesome and innocent pleasures, and satisfied with 
plain things for his own use, all his days, although he 
had taste, and knew how to conform to fashion in 
matters which concerned other people. He was always 
most emphatically a rural man. He was most at home 
in a farmer's plain clothes, roving the woods with his 
gun, watching the performance of the plough and the 
harrow, or exercising his skill as a surveyor, on his 
own or the neighboring fields. 

This taste we cannot but consider a great advantage 
to him who was to bear the brunt of great affairs, to 
deal with multitudes of differing and uncongenial 
minds, and to unravel many a web of tortuous diplo- 
macy. A true love of the country is an element of 
mental repose and balance ; habits of rural occupation, 
though they may make the tumults of public life dis- 
tasteful, bestow, in some measure, the calmness which 
is required for the highest and purest consideration of 
great affairs ; and though we dare not aver that a man 
may 

Hold fire in his hand 
By thinking of the frosty Caucasus, 

yet we may be allowed to believe that the very re- 
membrance of forest walks and bracing winter rides, 
of hunting and planting, of hearty hospitality and 
neighborly freedom, is capable of refreshing and cool- 
ing the perplexed mind, temporarily engaged in far 
different scenes, and looking for a return to peace and 
retirement as the sweetest of recreations. 



'732.] S0LE REMAINING RELICS. 21 

Let us not then be deemed fanciful if we say — 
Blessings on that homely old farm-house, which began 
and cherished in our "Washington a love of quiet, pure, 
and simple pleasures ; in which was laid the foundation 
of his industry, his frugality, and his activity ! 

Nothing now remains to mark its site but a broad 
slab of free-stone, placed there for the purpose by Mr. 
Custis. The landscape around has little natural inter- 
est and few evidences of cultivation. Pines, Hemlocks, 
and wild figs are scattered here and there ; the fences 
are poor and neglected ; all shows plainly the effect of 
laisser aller habits in the people. One almost fancies 
that the energy and determination which might have 
served the entire region for several generations, were 
concentrated and absorbed by George Washington, 
model as he was of promptness and thoroughness in 
all things, from the greatest to the least. 

But what a charm hovers over the spot ! What 
other on earth makes an American's heart thrill like 
this ! A vine-leaf — a sprig of cedar — a pebble, from 
that holy ground, is a talisman of memory. The poet's 
words, so true to nature and experience, come up, un- 
bidden, as we pace those silent fields and woods. We 
do not wrest them from their highest meaning when we 
apply them to the place consecrated by the thought of 
Washington : 

Call it not vain ! They do not err 

Who say that when the Hero dies 
Mute Nature mourns her worshipper 

And celebrates his obsequies; 



22 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1737. 

Who say that hill and forest lone 
For the departed chief make moan ; 
Through his loved groves that hreezes sigh 
And oaks in deeper groan reply ; 
And rivers teach their rushing wave 
To murmur dirges round his grave."* 

* A very prosaic observer, Smyth, in his M Tour in the U. S. of Amer- 
ica,'' — says of the country and the hero : 

"The Potomac is certainly the most noble, excellent, and beautiful 
river I ever saw ; indeed it can be excelled by no other river in the uni- 
verse. Its entrance into the Chesapeake is near a hundred miles from the 
Atlantic. It is navigable for the largest ships ns far as Alexandria and 
even to George Town, which is close to the Falls and eight miles above 
Alexandria. 

" The situation, and gentlemen's seats on the road are beyond com- 
parison and description beautiful. 

******** 

" After we had passed this noble river, we entered one of the most 
agreeable as well as respectable settlements in Virginia. In this place Mr. 
George Washington was born, who has become somewhat distinguished for 
being at the head of an inactive, timid army, which never performed a 
gallant exploit, yet have succeeded in their pursuits far beyond even their 
most sanguine expectations or hopes." 



CHAPTER III. 

Mr. Augustin Washington— Merits of Mr. "Weems's little book — Family legends re- 
ported by him— Lesson in generosity — Another in natural religion— Country life 
and the love of it. 

Whatever is preserved with regard to Mr. Augustin 
Washington, is creditable to him. As good authority 
as we have for the story of the new hatchet and the 
ruined cherry-tree, which is always quoted as showing 
the little George's love of truth, and the courage with 
which he could avow it, gives us one or two anecdotes 
not quite so threadbare, which imply that the father 
was not one of those parents who leave to chance the 
prompting of good thoughts in the minds of their chil- 
dren. Here is an instance which Mr. Weems professes 
to have had directly from an old lady, who, in her 
youth, had spent much time in the Washington family, 
of which she was a distant relative.* 

* Mr. Weems, at one time clergyman of Washington's parish, wrote 
a very entertaining little book about the hero, so full of enthusiasm and 
eulogy, with not a few blunders, that some of the graver historians have 



24- MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1737. 

" On a fine morning of the fall of 173T, Mr. Wash- 
ington, having little George by the hand, came to the 
door, and asked my cousin Washington and myself to 
walk with him to the orchard, promising he would 
show us a fine sight. On arriving at the orchard, we 
were presented with a fine sight, indeed. The whole 
earth, as far as we could see, was strewed with fruit, 
and yet the trees were bending under the weight of ap- 
ples, which hung in clusters like grapes. * * * 

" Now, George," said his father, " look here, my 
son ! Don't you remember when this good cousin of 
yours brought you that fine large apple last spring, 
how hardly I could prevail on you to divide with your 
brothers and sisters ; though I promised you if you 
would but do it God Almighty would give you plenty 
of apples this fall." Poor George couldn't say a word ; 
but hanging down his head, looked quite confused, 
while, with his little naked toes, he scratched in the 
soft ground. 

treated it with disregard, and as if it were a mere fable. Yet the book 
was published very soon after Washington's death, and by one who had 
been bred and settled in the very region where all facts and traditions 
about its subject must have been best known and easiest ascertained, and 
although his facts are often questionable, his style somewhat turgid, and his 
eulogy carried too far, it can hardly be that tbe various anecdotes given 
by him were not current at the time. Certain inaccuracies in point of 
dates and names do not, entirely, invalidate the testimony of Mr. Weems 
as to Washington's character and the estimation in which he was held ; 
and tbe traditional stories which are scattered here and there through the 
little book have too much grace and sweetness in them to be cast aside 
as worthless. Mr. Weems"s Saxon English, though defaced occasionally 
by some vulgarism or provincialism, might well be a model for our more 
ambitious day. 



1737.] LOVE OF RURAL PLEASURES. 25 

" Now look up, my son ! look up, George ! " con- 
tinued his father, " and see there how richly the blessed 
God has made good my promise to you. Wherever 
you turn your eyes you see the trees loaded with fine 
fruit, many of them, indeed, breaking down ; while the 
ground is covered with mellow apples, more than you 
could eat in your whole life, my son." 

" George looked in silence on the wide wilderness 
of fruit. He marked the busy humming bees, and 
heard the gay notes of birds ; then, lifting his eyes, 
filled with shining moisture, to his father, he softly 
said — 

" ' Well, Pa ! only forgive me this time, and see if 
I ever be so stingy any more.' " 

This story certainly deserves to be true, for it is 
beautiful ; and the poetic style of the narrator, while it 
warns us not to take too literally the particulars of the 
little anecdote, certainly gives a value of its own to 
what may very well have been a real family story, 
such as are current in almost every house where intel- 
ligent parents and children live together in kind and 
genial intercourse. The life-long, passionate love of 
Washington for rural and domestic pleasures, would 
justify us in giving faith to almost any stories of the 
freedom and sweetness of his early home days. From 
the beginning he must have been a happy boy. All 
his earlier papers show it. You cannot read his school- 
boy writings, without feeling as if you were looking into 
a clear, cheerful, frank face. Let us give his father part 
2 



26 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1737. 

of the credit of it, since a home-bred boy learns to 
imitate his father, and to think and be like him long 
before eleven years of age. 

Take another of Mr. Weems's stories, told with the 
richness of Jean Paul or a fine Flemish painter. 

" One day Mr. Washington went into the garden, 
and prepared a little bed of finely pulverized earth, 
on which he wrote George's name in full, in large let- 
ters ; then, strewing in plenty of cabbage seed, he cov- 
ered it up and smoothed all over nicely with the roller. 
This bed he purposely prepared close alongside of a 
gooseberry walk, which happening at the time to be 
hung with ripe fruit, he knew would be honored with 
George's visits pretty regularly every day. 

Not many mornings had passed away before in 
came George, with eyes wild rolling, and his little 
cheeks ready to burst, with great news. 

" O, Pa ! come here — come here ! " 

" What's the matter, my son, what's the matter? " 

" O come here, I tell you, Pa ; come here, and I'll 
show you such a sight as you never saw in all your life- 
time." 

The old gentleman, suspecting what George would 
be at, gave him his hand, which he seized with great 
eagerness, and tugging him along through the garden, 
led him point-blank to the bed whereon was inscribed, 
in large letters, and in all the freshness of new spring 
plants, the full name of 

" GEOKGE WASHINGTON." 



1737.] W H0 COCLD HAVE DONE IT? 27 

" There, Fa ! " said George, quite in an ecstasy of 
astonishment ; " did yon ever see such a sight in all 
your life-time ? " 

" Why, it seems like a curious affair, sure enough, 
George ! " 

" But, Pa, who did make it there ? who did make 
it there ? " 

" It grew there by chance, I suppose, my son." 

" By chance, Papa ! O no, no, it never did grow 
there by chance, Pa ! Indeed, that it never did ! " 

" High ! why not, my son ? " 

" Why, Pa, did you ever see any body's name in a 
plant bed, before ? " 

" Well, but, George, such a thing might happen, 
though you never saw it before." 

" Yes, Pa ; but I did never see the little plants grow 
up so as to make one single letter of my name before. 
Now how could they grow up so as to make all the let- 
ters of my name ? And then, standing one after 
another, to spell my name so exactly — and all so neat 
and even, too, at top and bottom ? O, Pa, you must 
not say that chance did all this. Indeed, somebody 
did it, and I dare say, now, Pa, you did it, just to scare 
me, because I am your little boy." 

His father smiled, and said, " Well, George, you 
have guessed right. I indeed did it, but not to scare 
you, my son ; but to learn you a great thing which I 
wish you to understand. * * * As 

my son could not believe that chance had made and 



28 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1737. 

put together so exactly the letters of his name, (though 
only sixteen,) then how can he believe that chance has 
made and put together all those millions and millions 
of things that are now so exactly fitted to his good ? 
That my son may look at every thing around him, see 
what fine eyes he has got ! and a little pug nose to 
smell the sweet flowers, and pretty ears to hear sweet 
sounds, and a lovely mouth for his bread and butter, 
and O, the little ivory teeth to cut it for him, and the 
dear little tongue to prattle for his father ! and precious 
little hands and lingers to hold his play -things, and 
beautiful little feet for him to run about upon. 

" And when my little rogue of a son is tired of run- 
ning about, then the still night comes for him to lie 
down, and his mother sings and the little crickets chirp 
him to sleep ; and as soon as he has slept enough, and 
jumps up fresh and strong as a little buck, there the 
sweet, golden light is ready for him. When he looks 
down into the water, there he sees the beautiful silver 
fishes for him, and, up in the trees, there are the apples 
and peaches, and thousands of sweet fruits for him ; 
and all, all around him, wherever my dear boy looks, 
he sees every thing just to his wants and wishes ; the 
bubbling springs with cool, sweet water for him to 
drink ; and the wood to make him sparkling fires when 
he is cold, and beautiful horses for him to ride, and 
strong oxen to work for him, and the good cow to give 
him milk, and bees to make sweet honey for his sweeter 
mouth, and the little lambs, with snowy wool, to make 
beautiful clothes for him ! 



1737.] POETRY OF COUNTRY LIFE. 29 

" Now all these, and all the ten thousand other good 
things, more than my son can ever think of, and all so 
exactly fitted to his use and delight — now could chance 
ever have done all this for my little son ? " 

We need not carry our extract further, since George's 
full assent to the conclusion his father wished him to 
draw from this beautiful rural picture, may easily be 
taken for granted. 

Without pretending that the poetic outburst should 
be credited to the father, or the precocious decision to 
the son, we must thank Mr. Weems, in the name of 
children yet to be, for so sweet and suggestive an enun- 
ciation of the common and unnoted things that prove 
God's goodness, while we accept the nucleus of the 
story as a family legend. That a lesson to a bright lit- 
tle boy of five years old should be given in such a form, 
is not so unlikely in the country as it would be in town. 
Intelligent people who live in the country are generally 
very fond of it, and their imaginations are quickened 
and their thoughts elevated, by familiarity with rural 
objects. To live much in the open air ; to notice the 
clouds, and speculate with interest upon the weather ; 
to depend directly for comfort and plenty upon the suc- 
cess of what is planted in the ground ; to go into the 
tall, lonely, whispering woods for fuel instead of apply- 
ing to the merchant for it — even the pleasant expe- 
rience of the wood's noisy, genial blaze on the hearth, 
instead of the warmth of the forgotten coal fire- -these, 
and many other particulars of rural life, make country 



30 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1737. 

people (other things being equal) more poetical than 
citizens ; and it is not uncommon to hear them use ex- 
pressions that would sound affected, if uttered among 
brick walls and in a thick, smoky, business atmosphere. 

What is called love of the country arises partly 
from this, i. e. the suggestion of poetical ideas, although 
those who live in the country are not always those 
who analyze the feeling. It is an elevated one, 
sometimes soiled by sordid accompaniments or despe- 
rate needs. If it were not for these ill accidents, there 
could hardly be any cities, so natural is it for man to 
love a position which exalts his imagination, and brings 
him more directly face to face with Nature. 

It cannot but be interesting to trace the progress of 
this little, simple boy, bred in the very plainest country 
style, to the eminence he attained before he passed 
middle life — an eminence from which he could look 
down on the greatest sovereigns of the earth, since his 
elevation was the result of merit and not of accident.* 

* One of Mr. Weems's stories, too vivid and picturesque to be omitted, 
yet too evidently fabulous to deserve admission into the text, is given in 
Appendix No. 2, for the amusement of our young readers. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The mother of Washington — Her characteristics and those of her children — Her 
early estimates of her eldest son — What he was in youth — His only sister's ro- 
semblance to him — Mrs. W.'s only weakness — Simplicity of her manners — "Little 
George" — Obligations of great men to their mothers — Almost forgotten — Duty 
and virtue of Obedience. 

It is often repeated that Mrs. Mary Washington, who 
was twenty-eight years old when her eldest son was 
born, was a beauty in her youth, and the picture of 
Mary Ball, now in England, justifies the claim. " The 
strong are born of the strong, and the good of the 
good," says Kepler. Her children were all tall, and 
their descendants still maintain the family reputation 
for fine, robust figures, although some of them have, 
like the General, a tendency to diseases of the throat 
and chest. George is said to have been the favorite of 
his mother, but we may be allowed to hope that a 
woman, noted for good sense and high principle, would 
hardly have a favorite among her children. He was 
her eldest, and a fine, handsome boy, endowed with 



32 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1738. 

qualities of mind and heart which his mother certainly 
could not be ignorant of, however an ordinary observer 
may have overlooked them. The holy book says, 
But his mother Jc&pt all these sayings in her heart ; and 
so it is in common life. The wise mother has a pro- 
phetic eye for the character of her son, though she 
cannot foresee his fortunes ; for the affairs of this world 
are so much ajar, that character and destiny have only 
a very general connection. Probably she found George 
more amenable to the sense of duty than other boys of 
his age. This might make him seem a favorite, because 
his mother would naturally trust him more and find less 
in him to reprove. There is very little reason to believe 
that he was what is called a brilliant boy, such as 
weak mothers are apt to be proud of. 

He was certainly a symmetrical being, having a face 
full of exju'ession and seriousness, a clear blue eye, a 
winning smile, and a tall and rather slender figure. 
The effect of his smile in lighting up his face, was often 
noted in after years. His only sister, Mrs. Lewis, can 
hardly have been as handsome, for a woman;. at least 
not as well proportioned ; for we are told that, in after 
days, when he was Commander-in-chief, she was so like 
her brother, that with his military hat and cloak on, 
she might have obtained the usual salute from the sen- 
tinels in his stead. 

There was in Washington's face, as noted by several 
of his contemporaries and shown in his portraits, at 
least when he reached middle life, an expression of 



1738.] SIMPLE MANNERS. 33 

modesty, and even of tenderness, which might well be- 
come the countenance of a woman ; but his figure was 
square shouldered, and made more for strength and en- 
durance than for grace of movement. These character- 
istics were those both of father and mother, if we may 
judge from various tokens. 

Mr. Paulding, who had his information direct from 
some of the Washington family, since deceased, says 
that Mrs. Washington exacted great deference from her 
sons, and that " the only weakness in her character was 
an excessive fear of thunder, which originated in the 
melancholy death of a young female friend, who was 
struck dead at her side by lightning, when Mrs. Wash- 
ington was about fifteen years old." * 

There is, at this day, an old lady at Fredericksburgh 
who remembers her mother saying that Mrs. Washing- 
ton often came there to drink tea, riding in what is 
called in Virginia a " stick chair," — i. e. an old-fash- 
ioned, unstuffed chaise, without a top — " bringing little 
George on a stool at her feet." This little characteris- 
tic touch from an authentic source is worth mentioning, 
merely because it shows the extreme simplicity in which 
Washington was brought up. 

* Mr. Paulding says further tbat "As a native of Virginia, she was 
hospitable by birthright, and always received her visitors with a smiling 
welcome. But they were never asked to stay but once, and she always 
speeded the parting guest by affording every facility in her power. She 
possessed all those domestic habits and qualities that confer value on 
women, and had no desire to be distinguished by any titles but those of a 
good wife and mother." 
O* 



34 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1739. 

It is hardly necessary to insist on what has been so 
long reckoned among points established — that great 
men are, one and all, in a peculiar manner, indebted to 
their mothers. Many of them have been so well aware 
of this, that they have expressly recorded their sense of 
obligation, and Washington is said to have expressed 
his, though no direct record of the feeling is found in 
his writings. He was certainly no exception to the 
general rule. We know but little of his mother, but 
that little is significant, and quite enough to assure us 
that we see in his character much that was evidently 
the reflection of hers. Besides the qualities that he 
inherited from her, there were some results of her no- 
tions of family government, peculiarly adapted to the 
education of one born to command. We know, by 
abundance of unmistakable signs, that obedience was 
the first lesson that Mrs. Mary Washington taught her 
children ; a lesson unfashionable in our day, but with- 
out which we should never have had the Washington 
whose least word commanded the respect and observ- 
ance of those about him, and secured the performance 
of the most difficult and dangerous services, often es- 
sential to the great cause. It is only by obeying that 
we learn to command. 

It has often been observed, that no duty is so neg- 
lected in our country as the enforcement of obedience, 
particularly filial obedience. The reason popularly 
given for this acknowledged fact is, that our institutions, 
in sweeping away hereditary distinctions, disallowing 



1739.] THE LESSONS OF HOME. 35 

caste, and giving to every man a voice in the state, 
have weakened the sentiment of reverence in general, 
and consequently lowered the national idea of obedi- 
ence, even to parents.* If this be the true reason, it is 
surely a very bad one. If the younger members of our 
republic have been led by circumstances into so serious 
an error, it certainly becomes the parental portion, who 
often enough lament the result, to teach them this 
truth — that republican freedom supposes private self- 
government, and that this can begin in nothing but a 
spirit of obedience, obedience to parents first, and after- 
wards to the sense of duty, to the laws of the land, and 
to the great Fountain of all law. 

Without too curiously speculating as to the cause 
of what is, nevertheless, an acknowledged evil, let us 
say, of the evil itself, that if there be any value in the 
concurrent testimony of all past time, any authority in 
the teachings of Christ and his apostles, any warning in 
sad experience, obedience must underlie all the virtues 
that go to make up the character of a good son, a good 
soldier, a good citizen. There is no substitute for it, 
none. Obedience is, in a child, nothing but the habit- 



* Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to Dr. Cooper, of Columbia College, 1822, 
says : — " The article of discipline is the most difficult in American educa- 
tion. Premature ideas of independence, too little repressed by parents, be- 
get a spirit of insubordination, which is the great obstacle to science, with 
us, and a principal cause of its decay since the Kevolution. I look to it 
with dismay, as a breaker ahead, which I am far from being confident we 
shall be able to weather." This prognostic has been fully vindicated by ex- 
perience, as many of our Colleges can sadly testify. 



36 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1739. 

ual submission of the will to the law of right, since the 
parent stands, at that period of life, in the place of God. 
This habit is the foundation of all virtue. It was ob- 
viously that of Washington's virtue, and the source of 
his great deeds ; for he spent his life in doing just what 
he did not want to do, in obedience to that sense of 
right which was habitual to him. As we know more 
of his mother than of his father, we ascribe this pecu- 
liar feature of his character more particularly to her, 
although we have reason to suppose his father to have 
been also a judicious person. 

From the earliest record we possess of the career of 
"Washington, we find the sense of duty always connected 
in his mind with the hope of success ; the idea of co- 
operation with Divine law with the dependence on 
Divine aid. He evidently felt that obedience is 
strength. Nothing less than this could have supported 
him, under the public reproaches and private sneers 
that goaded him incessantly, during the earlier part of 
the war, when a single yielding up of duty to the selfish 
desire of personal reputation, might have covered him 
with glory and ruined our cause. 

This point — the dignity and ennobling uses of obe- 
dience, and the danger of its being almost forgotten in 
our American scheme of education — was too important 
to be passed lightly over, in an attempt to trace the 
early training of "Washington, and to discover what 
were some of the accessories in the formation of a 
character so weighty and so benignant. Our readers 



1739.] THE IDEAL AMERICAN. 37 

must excuse this instance of prolixity. It seemed de- 
sirable to connect the consideration of an unpopular 
virtue with the character of one, confessedly the first 
of men, in whom it was so strikingly operative. Ac- 
knowledging at the outset that we look upon Washing- 
ton as the ideal American man — not the slow and 
dogged Saxon, or the mercurial and chivalric Norman, 
but a product of both, and different from both — it fol- 
lows that in making him a pattern, the American rises 
toward a high point of virtue ; in departing from such 
a model he sinks to a lower grade. When we have seen 
an American of nobler and more admirable character 
— for we shall never propose a foreign model to a na- 
tion that has no prototype — we may, without loss, set 
aside this one, vouchsafed us by Almighty Providence 
as a birth-gift to our young republic, at once a pattern 
for its character and a promise of its fortune. The self- 
control, the economy, the courage, the enterprise, the 
public spirit, the religiousness, which distinguished 
Washington, are the component points of the true 
American character, which has little ancestral prestige 
or inspiration to rely on, which has no " privilege " to 
shield corruption, no " caste " to dignify vice. Our 
wealth is suddenly acquired, bringing of course great 
necessity for self-control ; it is continually changing 
hands, making economical habits peculiarly necessary. 
Our vast resources originating vast designs, enterprise 
becomes a splendid quality ; the facility occasioned by 
a division of responsibility, is too often the source of 



38 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1739. 

official corruption ; true public spirit — the vital spark 
of national self-government — is the most difficult of 
virtues. Self-assertion and worldliness being our ever- 
present snare, amid such unexampled opportunities of 
material prosperity, religion is our best safeguard and 
highest wisdom — the only citadel of our liberties, the 
only voucher for their perpetuity. "When we remem- 
ber these things, let us remember also, that Washing- 
ton was the model in all of them ; and, wisely looking 
back to first causes in so important a matter, let us not 
disdain to lay foundations of character, upon which it 
shall at least be possible for so high and noble a struc 
ture to stand. 

God pardon us for ever holding lightly so great a 
blessing as this model ; for praising Washington in 
words, while we set aside his example, as not suited to 
what, we persuade ourselves, is an advance in the spirit 
of the age. 

Circumstances and customs change, but the stand- 
ard of character is eternal. 






CHAPTER V. 

Out-of-door habits — Alfred the Great, and Napoleon — Influence on a generous mind 
of wide possessions and the power they confer — Plantation life — Field school — 
" Old Hobby " — Mother's practice of reading with her children — The Great Audit — 
The widow's lot — Was Washington deficient in tenderness ? — Softening power of 
pity — Early love affairs — Washington's later gravity — Love of children — Its 
advantages — Proofs of goodness of heart. 

It was, as we have said, a life-long advantage to Wash- 
ington to have been bred up with simple habits, an in- 
extinguishable love of the open air, and a relish for 
out-door amusements. That he was so, is evident in all 
histories of him. He never liked to be in the house 
when the w T eather was fine ; and it w T as one of the trials 
of his self-denying spirit, when he had become involved 
in state affairs, that he was obliged to spend so many- 
days and weeks shut up in councils and offices, when 
his heart was longing for the free blue sky and the fresh 
bracing wind, for his horse and his gun. 

We must be allowed to connect this hearty love of 
the country, its unceremonious and sincere habits and 
primitive interests, with the courage, the truthfulness, 
the industry, and the complete unaffectedness of Wash- 
ington. 



40 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. L 1744 

Cities have bred great men, but of another stamp. 
Alfred the Great, to whom Washington has been com- 
pared, loved the country quite as well, and we hardly 
hear of him any where else ; Napoleon, the opposite 
of Washington in almost every thing, cared nothing 
about it, and never showed any desire for rural 
scenes and pleasures. Lord Bacon, between whose 
intellect and Washington's there must have been some 
resemblance of original structure, if we may judge 
from internal evidences to be gathered from their re- 
spective styles, only fully lived while he had trees over 
his head, and Mother Earth in all her freshness under 
his feet. 

There must be something, too, in the possession of 
wide ancestral domains ; in the habit of contemplating 
and planning for extensive tracts, with all their variety 
of aspect, production and value, and the feeling of in- 
dependence and abundance induced by plantation life 
on a large scale. Even the fact of holding slaves, 
when the holder is a George Washington., with his high 
sense of responsibility and his never-failing humanity 
and respect for human nature, tends, like other aristo- 
cratic institutions, to bring out some excellent traits of 
character, for which there is comparatively little occa- 
sion in town life. A wide neighborhood of independ- 
ent gentlemen, each a prince in his own domain, yet 
subject to that most efficient police, the opinion of his 
peers ; in the constant interchange of civilities and kind- 
nesses, but wholly free in the expression of sentiment ; 



1744.] IDEAS, IN THOSE EARLY TIMES. 41 

must have afforded, wlien the main feature of their 
lives and habits had hardly yet been mooted as a moral, 
much less as a political question', grand soil for the pro- 
duction of manly and Christian virtues. Judging them 
by their times, and not by ours, by what they did, 
when occasion offered, rather than by what we think, 
now that there is comparatively little to be done for 
the happy land they left us, we must confess that plan- 
tation life wore then and there its best aspect, and of- 
fered its most effective strength ; and that slavery did 
all it ever can do, and more than its wiser advocates 
will venture to claim for it in our day, in cultivation 
of the generous affections, and refinement of the man- 
ners of those who were born and bred to it. In "Wash- 
ington's early days there does not seem to have been a 
misgiving as to the nature of the institution, although 
there were very decided opinions as to the infamy of 
maltreatment of those helpless creatures, by any man 
who had a character to lose. In his early days, we say 
advisedly, for afterwards it was very different. 

The plain, humble home on Pope's Creek ; the stout, 
kind, planter papa, and serious, housewifely mother ; 
that primitive and retired mode of life, and its various 
calls upon the higher elements of character, influenced, 
evidently, the whole future of the General, President, 
Benefactor of nations. He wore their impress through 
all the toils and all the honors that distinguished him 
from the rest of mankind. Through the whole of his 
grand career, whenever the pressure of duty relented, 



42 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

he sprang back to rural life and its associations of 
pleasure and business, as the half-weaned child to its 
mother's bosom. It is recorded of him, that whenever 
he visited his old mother, he fell at once into the habits 
of his childhood. 

One of the memoranda while he was attending 
court at Fredericksburg, runs thus : — 

" Returned in the evening to mother's ; all alone 
with her." What a distinct domestic picture do these 
little words draw ! We can almost hear the fire sing 
on the hearth, and see the large snuff of the candle, 
grown up unperceived while mother and son sat talk- 
ing. 

Mr. Augustin Washington left the old farm on 
Popej's Creek when George was very young ; indeed, 
some say soon after he was born ; but only to exchange 
it for another, probably a better one, on the Rappahan- 
nock River, opposite Fredericksburg, a small town, 
situated about a mile and a half below the Falls on 
that river. 

The same plain style of living continued, and 
George, now old enough to go to school, was sent to a 
schoolmaster, rough as the pines that nestled about the 
poor school-house ; an old fellow named Hobb} T , one of 
Mr. Washington's tenants, who used to boast in after 
times, when he had become superannuated and some- 
what addicted to strong potations, especially on the 
general's birthdays, that it was he, old Hobby, who, 
between his knees, had laid the foundations of George 



1744.] OLD HOBBY A, B, ABS. 43 

"Washington's greatness. The school was what was 
called in those days, in rural Virginia, a " field-school," 
perhaps not very unlike what in Ireland is called a 
hedge-school ; a seminary of learning whose preten- 
sions are bounded by the spelling-book and the New 
Testament, but which has graduated some very great 
men. The man who had the honor of teaching a, b, 
abs to Washington, pursued also the perhaps more suit- 
able employment of sexton and grave-digger. He is 
not supposed to have discovered any peculiar promise 
in the blue-eyed urchin, who doubtless behaved very 
much like other heroes of his age ; but after the great- 
ness of his pupil became evident, he found wherewithal 
to make his boast, as was very natural. 

And how can we deny his claim ? for indeed Wash- 
ington, or any body else, must have made a very poor 
figure in the world without a, b, abs ! 

Yet, without desiring to be ungrateful, we may be 
allowed to think that the mother's practice of reading 
with her children the best books she could find, in those 
days when books were books, had a good deal to do 
with the future character of one of them at least. 
Would that other mothers, inspired by this great suc- 
cess, would adopt the plan far more extensively than is 
now, as far as we can judge, thought necessary, or per- 
haps even desirable. 

There is a volume, old and worn, yellow-leaved and 
thumb-marked, in the title-page of which " Mary 
Washington's " name was written long, long ago, while 



44 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

yet she who bore that name was young and blooming. 
It is " Contemplations, Moral and Divine, by Sir Mat- 
thew Hale." Mr. Paulding saw the book, even had it 
in his possession, and was told by one of the family 
that Mrs. Washington was in the habit of reading it 
daily with her children. 

Our present limits hardly admit of the insertion 
here of the marked passages which we may, without 
stretch of imagination, suppose to have especially in- 
fluenced the mind of the boy ; but the book may be 
found in any library, and it is worth while to look at it 
and trace the coincidences between its precepts and the 
peculiar traits of Washington. 

One chapter, however, marked in the index and 
worn by frequent use, it may be well to make a little 
extract from. It is called " The Great Audit," and 
purports to be an account rendered by a good steward 
to the great Taskmaster. 

" I never made use of my power or greatness to 
serve my own turns, either to heap up riches, or op- 
press my neighbor, or to revenge injuries, or to uphold 
injustice. For, though others thought me great, I 
knew myself to be still the same, and in all things, be- 
sides the due execution of my place, my deportment 
was the same as if I had been no such man ; for I very 
well and practically knew that place, and honor, and 
preferment are things extrinsical. * * * 

Though I have loved my reputation, and have been 
careful not to lose or impair it by my own neglect, yet 



1744-1 READING SIR MATTHEW HALE. 45 

I have looked upon it as a brittle thing that the devil 
aims to hit in an especial manner ; a thing that is much 
in the power of a false report, a mistake or misappre- 
hension to wound and hurt, and notwithstanding all 
my care, I am at the mercy of others without God's 
wonderful, overruling providence. And as my repu- 
tation is the esteem that others have of me, so that es- 
teem may be blemished without my default. I have 
therefore always taken this care, not to set my heart 
upon my reputation. I will use all fidelity and honesty, 
and take care it shall not be lost by any default of 
mine ; and if, notwithstanding all this, my reputation 
be soiled by evil or man, I will patiently bear it, and 
content myself with the serenity of my own con- 
science." 

In reading Washington's letters, written in the midst 
of his trials, and after the greater of them were well 
over, we cannot but be struck with the similarity of ex- 
pression, as well as sentiment, to those of Sir Matthew 
Hale. There is an old-fashioned directness ; often a 
disposition to moralize, and always a serious tone, which 
is apt to become rather oppressive and chilling, in 
Washington's writings, where the subject is at all per- 
sonal. He was never a man of high spirits, and we 
have reason to believe that even his boyhood was grave 
and considerate, in spite of his athletic sports and con- 
stant out-door amusements. Without these he might 
have been considered a dull person. Much reflection 
inevitably induces gravity, though it does not forbid 



46 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

cheerfulness, and may easily be prevented, by exercise 
and amusement, from degenerating into gloom. 

Although reserved in his manners, Washington was 
eminently social in his habits. Serious in his conver- 
sation, he was yet particularly conversible. His grav- 
ity was the result neither of moroseness nor of self- 
righteousness. His friends, however unseasonable or 
unreasonable — and they were sometimes both — always 
found him kind and patient ; and, however faulty, never 
failed in their applications to him for aid and sympa- 
thy. His life, in fact, contradicted his manner, or his 
reputed manner. Nature had made him genial, cir- 
cumstances stiffened his exterior. There was ample 
evidence of internal fire, though the snows outside were 
only occasionally melted. Left fatherless at a very 
early age, the stern tone of the mother seems to have 
overpowered the more genial manner of the Washing- 
ton race. 

From all accounts, Mrs. Mary Washington was a 
person of reserved manners and rather stern character. 
Her virtues were not adorned with the feminine sweet- 
ness which it is natural and proper to look for in a wo- 
man. At least this is certainly true of her later life. 
It may, however, have been partly the result of cir- 
cumstances ; for Mrs. Washington was left a widow 
with five children when George, her eldest, was but 
eleven years old, and although her husband owned a 
good deal of landed property, yet there was no great 
abundance of money ; and, in order to keep the land, 



1744.] Washington's mother. 47 

and yet bring up her young family, the greatest econ- 
omy and management were necessary. 

To battle with the world under these circumstances, 
requires that a woman should harden herself a little, 
and it is not wonderful if sometimes the process goes 
on further than is necessary. But I have seen a por- 
trait of this lady when she was still the fair Mary Ball ; 
and I could not help fancying that the lofty forehead, 
determined brow, and cool, calm eye of the picture, 
prefigured well the high-spirited and keen matron, who 
in her old age replied to her son-in-law's kind offer to 
manage her business for her — ■ 

" You may keep my accounts, Fielding, for your 
eyesight is better than mine, but I can manage my af- 
fairs myself." 

And to her son George, when he invited her to take 
up her abode with him : — " I thank you, George, but I 
prefer being independent." When General Lafayette 
called to see her, on the occasion of his first visit to 
this country, he found this mother of the great general 
and president at work in her garden, with an old sun- 
bonnet on. She came forward directly, to welcome the 
young French hero, saying, " I would not pay you so 
poor a compliment, marquis, as to stay to change my 
dress." 

It is a current opinion that "Washington was defi- 
cient in tenderness — a great fault if it were to. The 
grandest and manliest character is incomplete without 
tenderness. But, though our hero was imperfect, like 



48 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

every body else, it does not seem to me quite just to 
deny him this quality. Many passages in his writings, 
and many things recorded of him, bespeak a kind and 
feeling heart, and it appears pretty plainly that though 
his sympathies were not universal, and though his man- 
ner was always restrained, he felt the sorrows and even 
the vexations of all in any way connected with him, 
to a degree totally incompatible with any supposition 
of lack of sensibility. 

But a man who attains great eminence is doomed to 
find himself almost alone. It has often been said that 
a king can never have a friend, and the same is true of 
a man whose qualities and fortunes raise him far above 
his fellows. This state of comparative isolation neces- 
sarily brings on habits of reserve, for reserve becomes 
wisdom in such cases. The mind occupied with great 
interests, especially with great public services, can 
hardly find time for that frequency and fulness of pri- 
vate communion, which tends to nourish and keep active 
the tender feelings. The possession of power enables a 
great man to remedy at once many of the evils which, 
in ordinary circumstances, he could only pity ; so that 
he half loses the habit of pity, one of the great soften- 
ers of the human heart. The constant necessity for 
self-control in great matters, must gradually extend its 
influence over all that can deeply move the feelings or 
sap the resolution. If one avenue must be guarded, so 
must all the rest. Duty may require that even friends 
must be forbidden the citadel. The sentinel must not 



1744.] LOVE VERSES TASTE. 49 

pause in his round to listen even to the pleadings of his 
mother. 

Washington's early writings show plainly that he 
knew and felt what sentiment was, and his original sus- 
ceptibility to tender emotions, — testified in particular 
by as lame love-verses as ever a boy of his age was 
guilty of — is proved by the general tone of his remarks 
on the young ladies that he met with. It is certain 
that there were times when he fancied himself a very 
unfortunate fellow, because certain fair damsels did not 
smile on him. But after he had fairly committed him- 
self to business, and begun to feel the hardening of his 
sinews, mental and bodily, we hear no more of his be- 
ing " undone," because a young lady " will not prove 
kind." He had by that time attained the robuster 
frame which says — 

What care I how fair she he, 
If she be not so for me ? 

He was always fond of ladies' society, enjoyed fe- 
male conversation, and was interested in little matters 
that interested women, as we find by many of his let- 
ters. He had a great deal of taste, and showed it in 
dress, furniture and equipage, to which he gave, through 
his whole life, such attention as only a man whose 
taste formed an important part, of his nature could have 
given under the circumstances. Old people in Phila- 
delphia say that when he rode through the streets, 
it was noticed, in the universal attention which his 
3 



50 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [174:4- 

splendid appearance excited, that his horse's hoofs were 
blacked and polished as thoroughly as his own boots. 

He loved children, and they loved him, although 
they held him in awful reverence. This reverence did 
not always please him, and he sometimes evinced a 
good deal of annoyance, when he found that his en- 
trance interrupted the childish sjDorts that he would 
have liked to witness. He has been seen for a quarter 
of an hour looking through the crack of the door on a 
party of young people, romping and playing blind- 
man's-buff. The more closely we study "Washington's 
writings, the more prevailing will be the impression 
that the sacrifice of much indulgence of the softer emo- 
tions must be counted among the immense ones which 
he made to duty. If he could have lived the life he 
chose for himself — that of an intelligent and enterpri- 
sing farmer, head of a family, generous host, kind 
neighbor, faithful friend, good citizen, guardian of the 
young, protector of the aged that Providence threw in 
his way, — there would, no doubt, have been a great 
modification in his manners, because there would ne- 
cessarily have been one in his thoughts and feelings. 
Until the necessity for sternness or reserve arose, we 
hear nothing of it, While he was a private gentleman 
nobody seems to have thought of it. His friends, we 
find by his papers, take all sorts of liberties with his 
house, his table, his horses, his time. He has a dan- 
cing school at Mount Vernon, for the little Custises and 
some of the neighbors' children, and he keeps the dan- 



1744.] NATURAL MANNERS FRIENDSHIP. 51 

cing-master and most of the scholars, not only to din- 
ner, but till the next day, or even longer. He invites 
his miller and his miller's wife to dine, and goes every 
day to visit his negroes when they are ill. In short, 
there are few gentlemen of fortune so accessible, so 
universally hospitable, so careless of any exclusive dig- 
nity as Washington at home, and we know that it was 
in his own dear shades that he felt peculiarly himself. 
Every where else, he was in stiff, irksome harness, ever 
on the qui vive, or going the grand rounds, with every 
thing depending on the concentration of his attention 
and his power of self-abnegation. 

A close study of his letters and private papers, pro- 
duces the general impression of a very sympathetic na- 
ture, generously alive to the wants and wishes of others, 
but not often asking or wishing for a return in kind. 
This last may not improbably be the ground of a sus- 
picion often brought forward, that Washington was in 
some sense a self-inclosed man. Whatever be the rea- 
son, he certainly asked very little sympathy or aid in 
private affairs. But we find him always conferring fa- 
vors, always able to confer them. Few persons seem 
to have been necessary to him, and those few were such 
as could have required nothing from him but friend- 
ship. Lafayette, Hamilton, Knox, Greene, were his 
friends, and he is not devoid of demonstration towards 
them. Towards Lafayette he is urgent, tender and 
confidential. When he had offended Hamilton, at that 
time only half as old as himself, he humbled himself 



52 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

to ask a reconciliation, which the fiery youth did not 
grant ; and showed the sincerity of his regard by meet- 
ing, with ready warmth, the first relenting of that im- 
pulsive nature. Towards General Knox and his family, 
Washington's feelings and behavior were the kindly 
ones of an affectionate relative. To his wife he was 
always most attentive and indulgent, and from his mar- 
riage day he wore about his neck the miniature which 
was found on his cold bosom by those who performed 
the last offices for those august remains. The mere 
statesman or soldier would, long before that time, have 
cast aside the little memorial of domestic love and duty 
Washington, who was truth itself, no doubt wore it al- 
ways, as he first put it on, as a token and talisman of 
the tender and exclusive regard which he felt and 
cherished for the chosen partner of his life. As he had 
felt all a young man's love for the beautiful bride, so 
he retained an old man's affection and respect for 
the dignified matron and faithful helpmate of so many 
years. He adopted her children and grandchildren as 
his own, and left in their hearts and memories an unef- 
faceable impression of benignity and patient kindness, 
which none but a thoroughly good-hearted man could 
have produced. Abundant proof of this is extant, 
though too much diffused to be readily cited. The 
spirit of a man's life and character must be discovered 
by the contemplation of it as a whole. Detached in- 
stances, however numerous, always leave much untold. 



CHAPTEK VI. 

A new school and new master — No Latin — A good bead can make more out of one 
language than a poor one out of half a dozen — Washington head boy, of course — 
Military sports and national predilections— Washington a man of peace, after all — 
Early handwriting — Neatness of his school papers — Practice in mercantile forms 
— Eobust physical exercises one grand element in his training — Pitching a stone — 
Love of horses and riding. 

The school at Bridge's Creek, to which "Washington was 
sent after his father's death, was kept by a Mr. Wil- 
liams, a personage far superior to " Old Hobby," and 
who seems to have done what he undertook to do in a 
very creditable manner. Mr. Weems says of his school, 
that it was very thorough in common studies, and par- 
ticularly in grammar and mathematics, which Williams 
considered his forte ; but that the master " knew as 
little of Latin as Balaam's ass ! " and of course could 
not teach it to his pupils, though some have supposed, 
from Washington's writings, that he could hardly have 
been ignorant of it. But, as many learn languages 
without thinking or caring what relation they bear to 
ideas; he, having well provided himself with ideas, 
managed always to find good sound language in w r hich 



54 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

to clothe them ; not in every case strictly correct, per- 
haps, for he was not a " strict constructionist '' in that 
respect ; but clear, manly, direct, and free from verbi- 
age, though sometimes losing a little in strength of 
statement from lack of culture. The study of his style 
is an antidote to pedantry, for we are all the time sen- 
sible of the greater importance of the idea than of the 
expression, as well as of the dignity which good sense 
and honesty give to the plainest language. Eminently 
practical throughout, Washington tried hard for such 
expression as he wanted, but left the further pursuit of 
fine writing to those who had more leisure. 

" In all positions," says Guizot, " whether his lan- 
guage rise to the superior to whom he renders an ac- 
count, or descend to the level of the subordinates who 
are under his orders, it is ever equally clear, practical 
and decided ; equally stamped with that authority 
which truth and necessity confer upon the man who 
speaks in their name." 

It is recorded of his school days that he was always 
head boy ; and whether this report be authentic or not, 
we can easily imagine the case to have been so, not ex- 
clusively by means of scholarship, perhaps, but by the 
aid of certain other qualities, very powerful in school as 
elsewhere, and which he so amply exhibited in after 
life. His probity, courage, ability, and high sense of 
justice were probably evident, even then, for there is 
every reason to believe their foundations were laid very 
early. The boys would, therefore, respect him, and 



1744.] MILITARY PLAYS — PEACEMAKING. 55 

choose him for an umpire in their little quarrels, as 
they are said to have done. " Ask George Washing- 
ton," graphic Mr. "Weems tells the story, " and what- 
ever he says is right, we'll agree to." Most schools are 
happy enough to have at least one scholar thus re- 
spected for justice and honor. 

But another source of George's popularity, was his 
military turn.* By some strange prophetic instinct — 
though indeed prophecy often works its own fulfilment 
— it was his pride to form his schoolmates into military 
companies, with cornstalks for muskets and calabashes 
for drums, and to drill and exercise them, to command 
them and lead them to sham-battle. He is said to have 
been famous for hindering quarrels, however, and per- 
haps his early taste for military manoeuvres was only an 
accidental form of that love of mathematical combina- 

* Mr. Irving, speaking of the military career and success of Lawrence 
Washington, says, page 22, Vol. I. " We have here the secret of that 
martial spirit so often cited of George in his boyish days. He had seen his 
brother fitted out for the wars. He had heard, by letters and otherwise, 
of the warlike scenes in which he was mingling. All his amusements took 
a military turn." 

Also, on page 29. " Some of Lawrence's comrades of the Provincial 
Regiment, who had served with him in the West Indies, were occasional 
visitors at Mount Vernon ; or a ship of war, possibly one of Vernon's old 
fleet, would anchor in the Potomac, and its officers would be welcome 
guests at the table of Lawrence and his father-in-law. Thus military 
scenes, on sea and shore, would become the topics of conversation. The 
c-.pture of Porto Bello; the bombardment of Carthagena; old stories of 
cruisings in the East and West Indies, and campaigns against the pirates. 
We can picture to ourselves George, a grave and earnest boy, with an ex- 
panding intellect, and a deep-seated passion for enterprise, listening to 
such conversation with a kindling spirit, and a growing desire for military 
life' 



56 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

tion (the marked trait of Napoleon's earlier years), and 
the tendency to order, promptness and thoroughness, 
which characterized him so strikingly in after life. 
The good soldier is by no means a man with a special 
disposition to fight. 

But there was a political bias, in this sport too ; for 
the boy army was arranged in two bands, one of them 
personating an English and the other a French force, 
always an antagonistic idea to the English, and at that 
time obnoxious in the colonies, — the latter troop com- 
manded by a lad named William Bustle, the former al- 
ways by George Washington. It is rather remarkable 
that so exciting a sport did not end in quarrels if not in 
enmity, for the temperament of Washington was im- 
petuous and his passions fiery, though we are little ac- 
customed to think so, from our habit of contemplating 
his after life, so marked by self-control. He was known 
as a peacemaker, even thus early, and we have every 
reason to believe that peace continued to be his darling 
wish and pursuit, through all the struggles and opposi- 
tions that duty led him to engage in. His military turn 
was in-bred, not in-born. When, in after life, he was 
charged with having said " I have heard the bullets 
whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming 
in the sound " — he answered, not without some show of 
embarrassment and regret, " If I ever said so, it was 
when I was very young." He never felt so in his later 
years. 

The precious little box of his private papers, before 



1744.] WRITING BOOKS — NEATNESS. 57 

mentioned as being in the safe-keeping of the State 
Department at the seat of government, may almost be 
called the autobiography of Washington. There you 
see, side by side with the persevering and methodical 
accounts he kept in his later days, some books of per- 
haps fifty years earlier date — showing just a general 
resemblance in the handwriting — which were made, no 
doubt, while at school at Bridge's Creek, and which 
contain his arithmetical exercises. It was the good 
custom, in those days, to write down in a permanent 
and referable form, the whole arithmetical process, 
from the rule and the question to the answer ; the 
operation at once fixing the facts learned, upon the 
memory, and endowing the head with business-like 
habits and with a knowledge of mercantile iorms, to 
fully appreciate which, one must have experienced the 
benefit of it in one's self, and suffered from the lack of 
it in others. We feel certain, in looking over those 
well-worn pages, that nobody ever encountered even 
unintentional injustice in dealing with the man who 
kept them, and also that he himself enjoyed to the full 
the comfortable security and self-confidence that such 
attention to business always earns. And by the sim- 
plest eye the advantages suggested by the journal and 
ledger of 1T69 to 1774, may be seen to grow out of the 
careful school-books of 1743, and the minute surveying 
details of 1748 ; just as a deeper view may perhaps dis- 
cover in the honesty and simplicity of the early charac- 
ter and education of Washington, the circumstances 



58 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

that made him ready, when the great need came, to 
found a republic. 

Among the items of' Washington's early training, 
we must not omit to mention the robust physical exer- 
cises to which he subjected himself, prompted naturally 
by his sense of great bodily power, and incited still 
more by the pleasure of companionship ; for it seems to 
have been much the fashion to try strength in running, 
leaping, pitching the bar, wrestling, &c. An old gov- 
ernor of Virginia, Nicholson, had, long before, institut- 
ed public games, and distributed prizes for proficiency 
in all these athletic sports. Washington was early able 
to manage a fiery horse, and to use and confirm his own 
strong sinews by feats that none of his companions 
could equal. Whatever stirred his blood and brought 
his muscles into vigorous exercise was his delight. 
His young lady companions complained sometimes, we 
are told, that George cared nothing for their company, 
but would always be out of doors ; and an old gentle- 
man of the neighborhood is quoted as saying, in after 
years, — " Egad ! he ran wonderfully ! We had nobody 
hereabouts that could come near him. There was 
young Langhorne Dade, of Westmoreland, a con- 
founded clean-made, tight young fellow, and a mighty 
swift runner, too, but he was no match for George." 

Colonel Lewis Willis, his playmate and kinsman, 
had " often seen him throw a stone across the Rappa- 
hannock, at the lower ferry of Fredericksburg," — a 
feat, it seems, not very likely to be equalled in our 



1744.] OLD STORIES STRENGTH OF HAND. 59 

days. The story of his having ridden to death a fiery 
colt of his mother's, which nobody else dared to back, 
sounds a little too much like a modernized version of 
Alexander's taming Bucephalus ; so we shall not re- 
peat it here. It is said that the good lady was very 
much provoked but said, " I can forgive you, because 
you came at once and confessed it. If you had skulked, 
I should have despised you." 

The taste for athletic exercises continued with him 
through life. It happened once, after he was quite an 
old man, — or at least so old that young men did not 
think of his joining in their trials of strength, — that 
some of his young relations or friends were exercising 
themselves at pitching a very heavy stone, when 
Washington happened to be passing. He stood for a 
few minutes looking on, as he generally did when 
sports were going forward; then, as the furthest throw 
was measured, saying, " I think I can beat that, yet ! " 
he took ivp the huge stone, sent it far beyond the most 
distant mark, and quietly walked on. 

His hands were remarkably large, unduly de- 
veloped, perhaps by the severe uses to which he put 
them in his youth. They were also very strong. Mr. 
Paulding, who enjoyed the advantage of intimate ac- 
quaintance with the family, and much talk with Jeremy, 
an old servant of Washington, heard from one of his 
near relatives an anecdote illustrative of this. 

"We were sitting," said this gentleman, " in the 
little parlor fronting the river, on the right as you en- 



60 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

ter the portico. The general and several others were 
present — among them two young men remarkable for 
their strength, when a large backlog rolled from the 
chimney out on the hearth. The general took the 
tongs, and very deliberately, without apparent effort, 
put it back in its place. A quarter of an hour after- 
wards he went out, and the ease with which he handled 
it became the subject of remark. The log was taken 
down and not a man of us could lift, much less put it 
in place again. Finally, one with the tongs and 
another with the shovel, we all set to, and succeeded 
in replacing it. The general, though remarkably strong 
in all his limbs, was particularly so in his hands and 
fingers." 

All his life long he was at home on horseback, and 
traditions concur in representing him as making a 
grand figure there. He was popularly called " the 
best rider in Virginia," where all are riders. Mr. 
Smyth says — " a Virginian will walk five miles to 
catch a horse to ride one." In his early letters he 
has an intimate way of talking about horses, which 
shows not only how important they were to him, but 
how close an acquaintance he had with them, and how 
well he knew how to take care of them. He inherited 
from his mother a love of good horses, for this was one 
of her characteristic traits. "We should judge from his 
life and letters that he spent at least half of his three 
score and eight years on horseback. This could not 
have favored his being a graceful walker, and accord- 



1744.] PERSONAL APPEARANCE STRAIGHT WALK. 61 

ingly we hear that he was not such; but his great 
length of limb preserved him from being like the 
jockey who " always walked as if he had a horse 
under him."' He had a direct, business-like manner of 
walking. Mr. Custis says, " a straight, methodical, 
Indian walk," but as an Indian walks with his toes 
turned in, it seems hardly probable that Washington's 
appearance would have been as dignified as we know 
it to have been, if he had allowed this strikingly un- 
graceful fault in his carriage to become habitual. He 
was very careful of his appearance, being a person of 
great natural taste ; and one who had a just estimate 
of its importance in regard to the impression we make 
on strangers. His personal appearance was sure to be 
the theme of strangers who saw him for the first time. 
They were always impressed by it, not so much in the 
form of admiration as of reverence, though it was said, 
again and again, that whatever the splendor of the 
company or the procession, George Washington at- 
tracted every eye, so that others were hardly seen. 



CHAPTER Vli. 

Washington little indebted to books — Early reading limited, but good — His mother's 
idea of true kindness — Habit of writing a great deal — Its advantages and possible 
disadvantages — How it affected Washington's after life — Poetry book — " Rules of 
Civility and Decent Behavior " — Their influence on his character — His style of 
writing, excellent, plain, pure English. 

Washington was comparatively little indebted to books. 
We find in a memorandum of 1748, at which time he 
was sixteen years old, " Read to the reign of King 
John. In the Spectator, read to No. 143." But 
whatever he learned, he learned well. He was very 
industrious as well as ambitious, and he had no oppor- 
tunity, in his school-days, of slipping through a great 
school, getting other boys to do his tasks for him, or 
wheedling out of his mamma a " written excuse," 
wholly invented for the occasion, thus acquiring, in the 
most effectual w r ay, habits of both idling and falsehood. 
His mother was not one of those who so mistake the 
nature of true kindness, and his second schoolmaster — 
the only one besides " old Hobby," — was not without 
enthusiasm in his profession. He left a very good 
name behind him in his part of the country. He often 
boasted — and how natural it was for Washington's 



1744.] CIPHERING BOOK — POETRY BOOK. 63 

teachers to boast ! — that he had " made George Wash- 
ington as good a scholar as himself." That he exacted 
a good deal of application and exactness, is evident 
from the manuscript books which Washington wrote 
when under his care. It used to be, much more than 
it is now, the fashion for teachers to require of their 
scholars a great deal of writing, besides that of the 
copy-book. To the " ciphering- book " we have before 
alluded. Into it all the rules of arithmetic, and the 
most difficult sums done under them, were copied with 
great care and elaborate nourishes, by way of exercise 
of the hand, and particularly for the sake of improve- 
ment in writing numerals. Another book contained 
the whole course of book-keeping, with imaginary ac- 
counts and names, picked up by the writer as he went 
along, all drawn up in the scholar's grandest style, with 
ranks, phalanxes and spaces, so as to look not a little 
like plans of battle. This was intended to bring book- 
keeping to a sort of practice, and also to exercise the 
pupil in ornamental writing, and in the art of making 
elegant and fanciful capital letters. 

Then there was, not so generally, but often, a " Po- 
etry-book," into which the pupil was allowed, by way 
of privilege, in leisure hours, to copy poetical pieces 
which he admired and wished to preserve or commit to 
memory. These books, many of which are still extant, 
yellow with age and use, in careful old families, are 
often very curious, as showing the floridness of youthful 
taste, before criticism has chastened, or the fear of ridi- 



64 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744 

cule suppressed it. A short piece copied in Washing- 
ton's hand we shall insert here, because it is character- 
istic, and seems to embody a common-sense, unromantic 
idea of domestic lite, such as he always cherished. It 
is not very poetical ; if it had been, he would not prob- 
ably have selected it. We could wish it otherwise in 
this great and good life, for " the experience of any 
one's own mind may teach the inadequacy of mere ac- 
tual truth. Has not every one felt, at the time when any 
deep emotion stirred him, or any lofty thought animat- 
ed him, what imperfect exponents of such emotions or 
thoughts his words or actions are ? "* It would have 
been a comfort and support to Washington to love and 
study poetry. But he was preoccupied, and did not 
recognize the want of it. These homely lines enclose 
a convenient formula, about as compact and compre- 
hensive as the immortal memory-verses, " Thirty days 
hath September," &c, easy to remember and carry 
about with one. 

TRUE HAPPINESS. 

These are the things, which, once possessed, 

Will make a life that's truly blest : 

A good estate on healthy soil, 

Not got by vice, nor yet by toil ; 

Round a warm fire a pleasant joke, 

With chimney ever free from smoke ; 

A strength entire, a sparkling bowl, 

A quiet wife, a quiet soul ; 

A mind as well as body whole ; 

* Henry Reed. 



1744 -] LAW PAPERS DEEDS. 65 

Prudent simplicity, constant friends, 
A diet which no art commends, 
A merry night without much drinking, 
A happy thought without much thinking ; 
Each night by quiet sleep made short, 
A will to be but what thou art ; 
Possessed of these, all else defy, 
And neither wish nor fear to die. 

These are the things which, once possessed 

Will make a life that's truly blest. 

The books into which such things are copied are 
usually large, awkward pamphlet ones, with marbled 
paper covers ; the leaves of a stout foolscap, that would 
bear scratching out an occasional blot, or an ill-exe- 
cuted letter. The style and condition of these paper 
books were of great importance to the scholar, for pre- 
miums were often given for the neatest and most correct 
of them. "Washington left several, which it gives one 
cmite a thrill to open and handle,* ever so reverently. 
They date as far back as his twelfth year, and contain 
some lessons in geometry, treasured by his mother, no 
doubt, as evidences of her boy's application and neat- 
ness. One is filled with a great variety of business 
forms — bills of exchange, receipts, bonds, indentures, 
bills of sale, land-warrants, leases, deeds and wills, all 
written carefully and in imitation of lawyer's style. 

Still more valuable than business forms are the 
thirty pages containing " Rules of Behavior in Com- 
pany and Conversation." The import and value of 
these rules are various, ranging from a caution against 



66 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

" drumming with your fingers on the table," to a re- 
commendation of reverence when the Highest Name is 
mentioned. It is very evident that these very rules, 
copied and conned at thirteen, were indelibly imprinted 
on Washington's memory, and inwoven into his habits 
of thought and action ; and that having once secured 
the assent of his taste, reason and conscience, they con- 
tinued effective throughout his life, and helped to guard 
him against instinctive selfishness, arrogance, and the 
assaults of his own passions, as well as against any en- 
croachment on the rights and feelings of others. When 
we reflect how striking was ever the courtesy and ap- 
propriateness of his behavior, under every variety of 
circumstances, it becomes most interesting to read, in 
the stiff boyish hand of that early time, such rules as 
these : — 

" Every action in company ought to be with some 
sign of respect to those present. 

" In the presence of others sing not to yourself with 
humming noise, nor drum with your fingers or feet. 

" Sleep not when others speak, sit not when others 
stand, speak not when you should hold your peace, 
walk not when others stop. 

" Turn not your back to others, especially in speak- 
ing ; jog not the table or desk on which another reads 
or writes ; lean not on any one. 

" Be no flatterer, neither play with any one that 
delights not to be played with. 

" Read no letters, books, or papers in company ; but 



1744.] MANNERS AND MORALS. 67 

when there is a necessity for doing it, you must ask 
leave. Come not near the books or writings of any 
one so as to read them, unless desired, nor give your 
opinion of them unasked ; also, look not nigh when 
another is writing a letter. 

" Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious 
matters somewhat grave. 

" Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of anoth- 
er, though he were your enemy. 

"When you meet with any one of greater quality 
than yourself, stop and retire, especially if it be at a 
door or any strait place, to give way for him to pass. 

" They that are in dignity, or in office, have in all 
places precedency, but whilst they are young they ought 
to respect those that are their equals in birth, or other 
qualities, though they have no public charge. 

" Let your discourse with men of business be short 
and comprehensive. 

" In visiting the sick, do not presently play the phy- 
sician, if you be not knowing therein. 

" When a man does all he can, though it succeeds 
not well, blame not him that did it. 

" Being to advise, or reprehend any one, consider 
whether it ought to be in public or in private, presently 
or at some other time, in what terms to do it ; and in 
reproving show no signs of choler, but do it with sweet- 
ness and mildness. 

" Take all admonitions thankfully, in what time or 
place soever given ; but afterwards, not being culpable, 



68 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

take a time or place convenient to let him know it that 
gave them. 

" Mock not, nor jest at any thing of importance ; 
break no jests that are sharp-biting, and if you deliver 
any thing witty and pleasant, refrain from laughing 
thereat yourself. 

" Wherein you reprove another, be unblamable 
yourself, for example is more prevalent than precepts. 

" Play not the peacock, looking every where about 
you to see if you be well-decked, if your shoes fit. well, 
if your stockings sit neatly, and your clothes hand- 
somely. 

" Associate yourself with men of good quality, if 
you esteem your own reputation, for it is better to be 
alone than in bad company. 

" Let your conversation be without malice or envy, 
for it is a sign of a tractable and commendable nature, 
and in all causes of passion, admit reason to govern. 

" Utter not base and frivolous things among grave 
and learned men ; nor very difficult questions or sub- 
jects among the ignorant; nor things hard to be be- 
lieved. 

" Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor 
at the table ; speak not of melancholy things, as death, 
and wounds, and if others mention them, change, if 
you can, the discourse. Tell not your dreams, but to 
your intimate friend. 

" Break not a jest where none takes pleasure in 
mirth : laugh not aloud, nor at all without occasion. 



!74:4.1 OUR DOTY TO OTIIEES. 69 

Deride no man's misfortune, though there seem to be 
some cause. 

" Be not forward, but friendly and courteous ; the 
first to salute, hear, and answer ; and be not pensive 
when it is time to converse. 

" Detract not from others, neither be excessive in 
commending. 

" If two contend together, take not the part of either 
unconstrained, and be not obstinate in your own opin- 
ion ; in things indifferent, be of the major side. 

" Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others, and 
ask not how they came. What you may speak in se- 
cret to your friend, deliver not before others. 

" Think before you speak, pronounce not imperfect- 
ly, nor bring out your words too hastily, but orderly 
and distinctly. 

" "When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and 
disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, 
help him not, nor prompt him without being desired ; 
interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech be 
ended. 

" Be not apt to relate news, if you know not the 
truth thereof. In discoursing of things you have heard, 
name not your author always. A secret discover not. 

" Undertake not what you cannot perform, but be 
careful to keep your promise. 

" When you deliver a matter, do it without passion, 
and with discretion, however mean the person be you 
do it to. 



70 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

"In disputes, be not so desirous to overcome, as not 
to give liberty to each one to deliver his opinion ; and 
submit to the judgment of the major part, especially if 
they are judges of the dispute. 

" Make no show of taking great delight in your 
victuals ; feed not with greediness ; cut your bread with 
a knife ; lean not on the table ; neither find fault with 
what you eat. 

" Set not yourself at the upper end of the table ; 
but if it be your due, or that the master of the house 
will have it so, contend not, lest you should trouble the 
company. 

" When you speak of God or his attributes, let it 
be seriously and in reverence. Honor and obey your 
natural parents, though they be poor. 

" Let your recreations be manful, not sinful. 

" Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark 
of celestial fire called Conscience." 

Some distinguished person, but who it was I cannot 
now recall, said that he could not help looking upon 
Washington's character as connected with the early 
selection and adoption of these rules, and thinking they 
lay at the foundation of all. 

From what repository these and the remaining max- 
ims in the collection were drawn, we know not, but 
they wear the air of having been culled from various 
sources. Their having been copied out fairly into a 
book would hardly be worth a passing remark, were it 
not for the striking correspondence between these pre- 



1744.] CONVICTIONS AND CONDUCT. 71 

cepts and the after life of the writer, proving him to be 

Endued 
With sanctity of reason, 

to keep unbroken that connection between convictions 
and conduct, the unnatural severing of which causes 
half the crime and wretchedness of the world. Wash- 
ington's efforts to live up to his own notions of what 
was right, began very early, as we know by the respect 
he inspired. 

The old-fashioned practice of writing down so many 
things, may seem too slow for our steamy days, but it 
undoubtedly had its advantages. A good handwriting, 
with the power of correct and neat copying, is of in- 
valuable benefit to a boy who has his living to get, 
and the world before him, where to choose. Nothing, 
without practice, will give him these things. That 
George "Washington found life-long advantage in this 
practice of writing what boys nowadays never write, 
seems very evident ; and it is probable that his teacher, 
Mr. Williams, ought to have a share of the world's 
gratitude for Washington's accurate and patient busi- 
ness habits, as well as for the elegant and indefatigable 
penmanship which distinguished him. 

But among the good effects of so much writing, it 
may be questioned whether there was not one bad one. 
An old proverb says, " He that depends on a paper 
memory will soon find that he has no other." One of 
Washington's pen- habits was to make minutes of every 



72 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [17ii 

thing that occurred, and especially of every thing con- 
nected with his duties. Books full of these form a con- 
siderable part of his private manuscripts ; and the ex- 
actness with which he performed even the smallest du- 
ties, was unquestionably owing, in no small degree, to 
these ceaseless reminders. But we find his memory 
growing very treacherous in his latter days, so much so 
that he could not rely upon it ; and although he him- 
self observes more than once, " I always had a poor 
memory," yet this " always " can hardly refer further 
back than to the time when he began to make a 
" paper memory." 

But even though this result of memorandum-making 
were certain, it need not throw the least discredit upon 
the custom of much writing, since the extreme is only 
a casual misapplication of what is, in its right use, 
greatly advantageous. 

It is certain that without Washington's power over 
the pen, and his application to it, he could never have 
been the man he was; his mind never could have 
carried safely a multitude of the most important as 
well as the most minute affairs ; he could not have been 
so impartially just to all, absent as well as present. 
Without the power of expression which he acquired by 
its constant use, he could not have produced the same 
eftect on the mind of the country, and consequently 
would not have stood where he now stands in its love 
and reverence. " To the achievements of his inde- 
fatigable pen," says Mr. Irving, " we may trace the 



1744.] IDEAS, RATHER THAN RHETORIC. 73 

most fortunate turns in the current of our Revolution- 
ary affairs." 

A handsome and free handwriting is an ordinary 
accomplishment among us at the present time ; would 
that the power and habit of writing good, clear, forci- 
ble English were equally common ! "We have too 
many rich and prosperous people who cannot write a 
page without errors of construction, if not of grammar 
and spelling. This is the more noticeable, because the 
diffusion of intelligence is so considerable, and the in- 
telligence of these very persons in other directions, so 
obvious. The defect must certainly be charged upon 
teachers or modes of teaching. The schoolmaster who 
is " abroad" just now, is evidently not an elocutionist. 
The number of branches taught in schools is much 
greater than in Washington's time ; is there less stress 
laid upon the fundamental ones — the humble stepping- 
stones to the pretentious " ologies ? " 

Washington's simple, direct, idiomatic English may, 
notwithstanding certain imperfections, be advantage- 
ously studied as the groundwork of a good style — one 
worthy to supplant the more artificial and half bor- 
rowed one now quite fashionable. His rhetoric will 
not always bear criticism, and he repeats his metaphors 
and similes too often, as if his mind, intent only upon 
clear and forcible expression, never gave variety a 
thought. But the idea is always there, and he has no 
art of words to cover the want of ideas. He sometimes 

uses too many words ; perhaps, like a certain clergy- 
4 



74- MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1744. 

man who was accused of long sermons, he " had not 
time to write shorter ; " but the thought is never ob- 
scured, nor does verbosity suggest a suspicion of insin- 
cerity. Writing letters may almost be said to have 
been the great business of his life, and the amount of 
wisdom and goodness conveyed and made permanent 
in those letters is most wonderful. 

At the present day, a letter of his is framed and 
handed down as an heirloom, though it may contain but 
three lines with the immortal signature. 



CHAPTEE Vni. 

Esteem of his brothers for "Washington — Lawrence always his friend and benefactor — 
Fortunes of the family — George at Mount Vernon — Receives a midshipman's 
warrant — Gives way to his mother's wishes and stays at home — Learns military 
tactics and fencing — Contents himself with learning to be a good surveyor — Ex- 
treme accuracy of his papers — Old desk — Curious memorandum. 

There is no question that Washington — though far from 
being considered a prodigy — early attracted an unusual 
amount of notice in his family and neighborhood. This 
was owing as much to his character as to his talents, 
which were not of the brilliant order. His half-brother 
Lawrence, fourteen years older than himself, had a 
peculiar affection for him. Lawrence had been sent, 
as was the fashion of the times, to seek in England the 
education which this country did not then afford, and 
he had afterwards been induced to join the armament 
sent by Great Britain, in 1740, to the West Indies, 
against the French and Spanish who had committed 
some aggressions. Here he distinguished himself and 
won the confidence and respect of the British com- 
manders, Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth. 
He intended to go to England, and to remain and seek 



76 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1746. 

promotion in the army, in which he already held a 
captain's commission ; but having fallen in love with 
a neighbor, Miss Anne Fairfax, daughter of William 
Fairfax, a near relation to the eccentric lord of that 
name, he staid at home to be married, and soon after 
settled down on the farm in Fairfax County allotted to 
him by his father, which he afterward named Mount 
Vernon, in honor of the gallant admiral. This mar- 
riage and removal were nearly contemporary with the 
sudden death of the father, which took place on the 
12th of April, 1745, when George, who was absent 
from home at the time, was thirteen years of age. 

The death of Mi". Augustin Washington had pro- 
duced a great change in the family affairs. The large 
landed and other property which he had managed, was 
now divided among his children. George's share was 
the house and lands on the Rappahannock, but the en- 
tire property of the children under age was left under 
the care and management of the widow, in whose judg- 
ment and capacity her husband seems to have had an 
unbounded confidence, which speaks well for them both. 
If it requires an uncommonly wise woman to manage 
important affairs well, it is at least equally rare to find 
a man who is liberal enough to believe his wife capable 
of doing so. Mrs. Washington justified her husband's 
opinion of her ; brought up her children and took care 
of their property, like a firm, high-minded, sensible 
woman, as she was, and had the great reward of seeing 
her affairs prosperous, and her children all respectable 



!746.] COMMERCIAL IDEAS, ft 

and happy, while one of them was destined, even in 
her own day and under her very eyes, to transcend the 
ordinary sons of men in character, as much as he was 
favored by Providence with an unequalled field for the 
development and display of his peculiar talents. 

Augustin, the other surviving son of the first mar- 
riage, had married another neighbor, Miss Anne Aylett, 
daughter of William Aylett of Westmoreland County, 
and had settled in the old homestead at Bridge's Creek. 
Thither was George sent after the father's death, to 
go to school. There was no more sending to England 
for education now, but strict economy, and a desire to 
fit George to earn for himself the competency, which 
the divided estate could not supply to so extended a 
family. His mother seems to have limited her ambi- 
tion for her eldest boy, to making him an intelligent, 
honest and thriving planter, able to survey his own 
land and other people's, to keep accounts with exact- 
ness, and to be a proficient in country business, in which 
was of course included the practice of hunting and fish- 
ing. Plantation life included her ideas of happiness, 
usefulness and respectability, as we may gather from 
her hearty exclamation, long after, when somebody was 
telling her of the great things her son was doing — 

" Oh dear ! I do wish George would stay at home 
and take care of his plantation ! " 

While George was living with his brother Augustin at 
Bridge's Creek, Lawrence, who was very fond of him, 
had him often at Mount Vernon, where was at all times 



78 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1746. 

to be found the best society in the country, and par- 
ticularly that of the Fairfax family, who were well-bred 
though somewhat eccentric people. William Fairfax, 
the father-in-law of Lawrence and the owner of a fine 
seat on the Potomac, a few miles below Mount Yernon, 
was a cousin of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, of Greenway 
Court, the proprietor, by grant from the crown, of the 
whole immense tract of land between the Potomac and 
Rappahannock rivers. The acquaintance with these 
men of great wealth and distinction, then made at 
Mount Yernon, proved of immense and controlling im- 
portance to George "Washington. William Fairfax who 
had served in both the East and West Indies, and had 
also held the position of governor of New Providence ; 
and Lord Fairfax, an Oxford scholar who had run a 
fashionable course in London, were both men of mark 
and discernment, as well as of friendly and kind feel- 
ings. It was probably through these influential friends, 
that Lawrence procured for his brother George a mid- 
shipman's warrant, with which, in his fourteenth year, 
he was to have joined a ship-of-war, but for the un- 
willingness of his mother to part with her eldest-born 
so early, and for so dangerous a profession. Some of 
her friends blamed her for this demur, and called it 
weakness. One writes, " I am afraid Mrs. Washington 
will not keep to her first resolution. She seems to dis- 
like George's going to sea, and says several persons 
have told her it was a bad scheme. She offers several 
trifling objections, such as fond, unthinking mothers 



1746.] A DUTIFUL SON. 79 

habitually suggest, and I find that one word against his 
going has more weight with her than ten for it." 

" Fond, unthinking mothers ! " We are rather glad 
that Mrs. Washington ever seemed such a mother. 
She has so stern a reputation, that we like to ascribe to 
her a little amiable weakness. The young man himself 
seems to have shown his good sense and good feeling in 
the matter ; for, although every preparation had been 
made, and his clothes had actually been sent on board, 
we hear nothing of his repining at the decision of his 
mother. Mr. Fairfax writes of him at the time to Law- 
rence, — " George has been with us, and says he will be 
steady, and thankfully follow your advice as his best 
friend." 

So a project which must have been very fascinating 
to a young, warm imagination, was quietly abandoned, 
and the youth, in the dutiful spirit which ever charac- 
terized him, went back to school, to prepare himself for 
entering upon the comparatively humble business of a 
surveyor, in connection with the ordinary duties and oc- 
cupations of a planter's life, and that on a very moder- 
ate scale. 

Had he, even then, an inward consciousness of ir- 
resistible ability and force of character, that made the 
particular mode of his entrance upon life a matter of 
comparative indifference to him ? Who can say ? 

One of the incidental advantages of Washington's 
visits at Mount Yernon, was the training in military ex- 
ercises which he there received, from an old adjutant 



80 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1746. 

named Muse, who had served with Lawrence before 
Carthagena, and who fanned the rising flame in the 
breast of the future soldier, by lending him books on 
military tactics, and encouraging him to study them, by 
recitals of adventures and descriptions of battles that 
the veteran had shared in. When we add to this that 
young Washington had also lessons in fencing, from 
Mr. Van Braam, who afterwards served as his interpre- 
ter, we have before us what seems almost a whole 
chapter of express preparation for the remarkable 
career he was destined for. In daily communication 
with gallant gentlemen who had served, and who re- 
tained a good deal of martial ardor, how could a boy of 
sixteen but feel the blood stirring in his veins with the 
desire to imitate at once their accomplishments and 
their past doings ? When he caught sight of a hand- 
some, tall, athletic figure as he passed the mirrors of 
Mount Vernon or Belvoir, did not his heart beat quick 
at thought of dashing uniforms and waving plumes ? 

Yet Washington went quietly to work as a sur- 
veyor, and was delighted when Lord Fairfax sent him, 
with his nephew, to make a complete account and de- 
scription of the immense tracts of mountain land which 
the nobleman owned in the back part of Virginia. He 
had, before this time, shown a decided liking for geom- 
etry, trigonometry and surveying, which, as the pro- 
fession of a surveyor was, at that time, particularly pro- 
fitable, his friends had encouraged ; and he pursued these 
studies with characteristic earnestness. The last two 



1746 EDUCATION AS A SURVEYOR. 81 

years of his school life were given principally to the 
theory and practice of the art which laid the founda- 
tion of his large fortune, not only by the opportunity it 
gave him of purchasing new lands advantageously, but 
by the habits he then acquired of calculation, accuracy 
and neatness, so useful to him through all the important 
affairs which devolved upon him in after life. When, 
by way of practice, he surveyed the little domain around 
the school-house, the plots and measurements were en- 
tered in his book with all the care and precision re- 
quired for important business ; and if an erasure was 
necessary, it was done with a penknife, and so neatly 
that the error can scarcely be perceived. 

" Nor was his skill," says Mr. Sparks, " confined to 
the more simple processes of the art. He used logar- 
ithms, and proved the accuracy of his work by different 
methods. The manuscripts fill several quires of paper, 
and are remarkable for the care with which they were 
kept, the neatness and uniformity of the handwriting, 
the beauty of the diagrams, and a precise method and 
arrangement in copying out tables and columns of 
figures. These particulars will not be thought too 
trivial to be mentioned, when it is known that he re- 
tained similar habits through life. His business papers, 
day-books, ledgers and letter-books, in which, before 
the Revolution, no one wrote but himself, exhibit speci- 
mens of the same studious care and exactness. Every 
fact occupies a clear and distinct place. * * * * 
The constructing of tables, diagrams, and other figures 



82 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1747. 

relating to numbers or classification, was an exercise in 
which he seems at all times to have taken much de- 
light."* 

We may mention as one of many proofs of the life- 
long simplicity of Washington's habits, the writing-desk 
which he commonly used when at home — an unpainted 
one, evidently the work of a common carpenter, who 
made the inside divisions, under the direction of the 
owner, to fit his various papers. This is in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Custis. 

Of the homeliness of his early life we gather a hint 
in the memorandum, written in his boyish hand of 1747, 
of articles intrusted to his washer-woman : 

"Delivered to Mrs. Humphrey, this 30th day of 
October, 2 Shirts, the one marked G. W., the other not 
marked; 1 pr. of Hose and one Band, to be washed 
against the November Court in Frederick." 

* Sparks' Life — p. 8. 



CHAPTEK IX. 

First surveying tour — Groves of sugar trees — Indian dance — People that wouldn't 
speak English — Eough living — Good pay — Tender passion — Poetic taste not very 
prominent — Lord Fairfax — Planter life — High-bred manners — Letters to ladies. 

It was in March, 1748, that Washington set out, in 
company with Mr. George Fairfax and a small party, 
to explore immense tracts of wild wood-lands, in the 
Allegany mountains. These forests were almost to- 
tally destitute of white settlers, and, we may say, of 
human succor ; for the Indians that were sometimes 
met there were of ferocious habits, and looked upon 
the whites as objects of plunder, if not of cruelty. 
This was no pleasure trip, we may be sure, such as a 
week's hunting in the woods may afford to the weary 
townsman, who finds rest in exchanging his mattress 
for cedar boughs, and a luxurious table for bacon roasted 
on a skewer. It was very serious earnest, involving 
both fatigue and danger, and there must have been 
something very remarkable about a boy of sixteen, 
whom Lord Fairfax, shrewd and keen-eyed as he was, 



84 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1748. 

intrusted with it. The young surveyor was accompa- 
nied by William Fairfax, brother of Mrs. Lawrence 
Washington, but Washington himself was the practical 
and responsible person. He had just been licensed as 
a public surveyor, which entitled him to enter his sur- 
veys in the county offices. The business proved very 
arduous, the weather being unfavorable, and provisions 
and accommodations very poor. The diary kept by 
Washington on this occasion has no particular interest, 
except the fact of its having been kept at all by a boy 
of sixteen, and the evidence it gives of his manly feel- 
ing at that age. No one who did not know his age, 
would take the writer to be less than of full man's es- 
tate, unless by the notice taken of small matters, which 
an older surveyor of wild Indian lands would be too 
much accustomed to, to think of mentioning. When 
they reached Lord Fairfax's land on the Shenandoah 
river, they " went through most beautiful groves of 
sugar trees, and spent the best part of the day in ad- 
miring the trees and the richness of the land." 

This was the very first outset, and the boy was still 
a boy. A year later he would not have spent " the 
best part of the day " so. He too soon gave up such 
pleasures, and became duty's bondsman, to an extent 
which made him old and grave before his time, though 
he never lost his relish for fine woodland scenery. 

A few days after this touch of natural enthusiasm, 
we find him describing an Indian dance : — 

" 23d. — Rained till about two o'clock, and then 



17 * 8 -] WAR-DANCE POOR QUARTERS. 85 

cleared up, when we were agreeably surprised at the 
sight of more than thirty Indians, coming from war 
with only one scalp. We had some liquor with us, of 
which we gave them a part. This, elevating their 
spirits, put them in the humor of dancing. We then 
had a war dance. After clearing a large space, and 
making a great fire in the middle, the men seated them- 
selves around it, and the speaker made a grand speech, 
telling them in what manner they were to dance. Af- 
ter he had finished, the best dancer jumped up, as one 
a^vakened from sleep, and ran and jumped about the 
ring in the most comical manner. He was followed by 
the rest. Then began their music, which was performed 
with a pot half full of water, and a deer skin stretched 
tight over it, and a gourd with some shot in it to rattle, 
and a piece of horse's tail tied to it to make it look 
fine. One person kept rattling, and another drumming 
all the while they were dancing " 

Amid mention of " hard at work all day," and 
" swam our horses over the Potomac," comes the fol- 
lowing entry : — 

" Travelled up to Solomon Hedges', Esquire, one of 
His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, in the county of 
Frederick, where we camped. When we came to sup- 
per there was neither a knife on the table, nor a fork to 
eat with ; but as good luck would have it, we had 
knives of our own." 

Washington's italics here (for they are his), hint that 
the two young men had a good deal of fun between 



86 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1748. 

themselves at the disproportion between their host's ti- 
tles and the style of his living. 

" April 2d. — A blowing, rainy night. Our straw, 
upon which we were lying, took fire, but 1 was luckily 
preserved by one of our men awakening when it was 
in a flame." 

The writer complains, April 4th, that some ignorant 
people — " almost as ignorant as the Indians " — who fol- 
lowed them about while they were surveying certain 
lots, " would never speak English, but when spoken to 
they all spoke Dutch," — probably for the best possible 
reason. 

On the 8th, after "William Fairfax had left the party, 
" "We camped in the woods, and after we had pitched 
our tent and made a large fire, we pulled out our knap- 
sack to recruit ourselves. Every one was his own cook. 
Our spits were forked sticks ; our plates were large 
chips. As for dishes, we had none." 

This journey occupied a spring month's time, and 
"Washington mentions his sleeping in a house as a rare 
occurrence, though the weather was " very inclement 
for the season." In a letter of the period he says : 
" After walking a good deal all the day, I have lain 
down before the fire on a little hay or a bear-skin, 
whichever was to be had, with man, wife and children, 
like dogs and cats ; and happy is he who gets the berth 
nearest the fire. * * * I have never had my 
clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, except the 
few nights we slept at Fredericksburg." But we have 



1748.] TOO MUCH EXPOSURE FIRST LOVE. 87 

a very significant addition. " Nothing would make it 
pass off tolerably but a good reward. A doubloon is 
my constant gain every day that the weather will per- 
mit of my going out ; sometimes six pistoles." 

This kind of life he kept up for three years, under 
circumstances of such fatigue and exposure that he 
could make but short trips at a time, being obliged to 
return to the settlements to recruit. And this was not 
sufficient to prevent some constitutional injury, which 
he felt throughout his life. The labor and exposure 
were premature, and we should be sorry to hold up 
Washington's example in this respect to growing boys 
of his age. 

Young as he was, the letters referring to a hopeless 
passion for some " lowland beauty," are supposed to 
have been written at this time. But however sincere 
the subjection and the despair of seventeen, it is cer- 
tain that in this case, business soon drove away all ill 
effect of either, and doubloons and pistoles exercised 
their usual fascinations, deferring the capitulation of 
that stout, though susceptible heart, for a good many 
years. There is the beginning of an acrostic on the 
beloved name of Miss " Frances Alexander," which 
may perhaps have been the production of the same 
time of life ; but as it is only a beginning, atrociously 
bad in point of poetical execution, and evidently given 
up (after the X) by the author himself, I shall, by the 
golden rule, forbear giving the fragments, especially as 
all former ferrets among the "Washington papers, set 



88 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. L 1748 

me the example of reticence in this matter. The ef- 
fort to express passionate thoughts in verse, is common 
to almost all ardent minds ; but the education of Bridge's 
Creek had not been that which can render such expres- 
sion easy or graceful. Mrs. Mary Washington evi- 
dently had not/fed her little ones with the story of 

Pelop's line, 
Or the tale of Troy divine. 

If albums had been fashionable in Washington's 
clays, which, happily for him, they were not, he would 
have written in them — for he was a gallant man, and 
could refuse nothing to a lady — either like General 
Jackson, a verse or two from Watts' hymns, or some 
couplets of " True Happiness if you would find," early 
embalmed in his note-book, and doubtless in his mem- 
ory. The poetic vein, not having been exercised in 
that way, seems to have undergone absorption, and, 
while it may have enriched the rest of his nature, 
never made any further manifestations of its own. We 
must congratulate ourselves on the failure, for who 
knows where we might have been now, if Washington 
had turned out a poet ? 

The survey was so performed, as to more than sat- 
isfy Lord Fairfax, whose esteem for his rising young 
neighbor seems to have gone on increasing for many 
years. Washington was a frequent guest in the family, 
and remained its attached friend to the end of his days. 



1748 1 LORD FAIRFAX- SURVEYING. 89 

Speaking of this early commission of Lord Fairfax, 
Mr. "Weems says : — 

" Little did the old gentleman expect that he was 
raising a youth that should one day dismember the 
British empire, and break his own heart — which truly 
came to pass. For, on hearing that "Washington had 
captured Cornwallis and all his army, he called out to 
his black waiter, " Come, Joe ! carry me to my bed, 
for I'm sure it's high time for me to die ! " 

And then follows a poetic version of the legend, af- 
ter the manner of the ancient ballad : — 

Then up rose Joe, all at the word, 

And took his master's arm, 
And to his hed he softly led 

The lord of Greenway farm. 

There thrice he call'd on Britain's name, 

And thrice he wept full sore ; 
Then sighed, — Lord, thy will be done, 

And word spake never more. 

And die he did, certainly, in 1782, but not prema- 
turely, for he lived to be ninety-two, a much liked and 
very benevolent person, though rather eccentric. 

The business of surveying, at that early day very 
profitable, had the further advantage of introducing 
Washington to the favorable notice of landholders and 
men of influence, whom his merits very naturally made 
his fast friends, and under whose auspices he found all 
the employment his health and strength allowed him 
to undertake. These acquaintances were first his em- 



90 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1748. 

ployers, then his friends, afterwards his advocates with 
those in authority when office was in question ; further 
on, when the great struggle began, his admiring com- 
panions and colleagues ; and thence onward to the end 
of his career, his firm adherents and supporters, feeling 
only too much honored in being counted among his 
neighbors and compatriots, when he had become known 
as one of the master spirits of the world. 

There is a rude picture, drawn by no favorable hand, 
of the inferior order of plantation life at that early 
time. 

" The gentleman of fortune," says Smyth, " rises at 
nine o'clock, and perhaps may make an excursion to 
the stables, some fifty yards from the house. Returns 
and breakfasts, between nine and ten, on tea, coffee, 
bread and butter, and very thin slices of venison or 
hung beef. lie then lies down on a pallet on the floor, 
in the coolest room in the house, in his shirt and trow- 
sers only, with a negro at his head and another at his 
feet, to fan him and keep off" the flies. 

" Between twelve and one he takes a glass of bornbo 
or toddy — a liquor compounded of water, sugar, rum and 
nutmeg, made weak and kept cool. Dines between 
two and three, and at every table, whatever else there 
may be, a ham and greens or cabbage is always a stand- 
ing dish. At dinner, he drinks cider, toddy, punch ; 
port, claret or Madeira. 

" Having drank some few glasses of wine after din- 
ner, he returns to his pallet, with his two blacks to fan 



1748. J TROPICAL HABITS — GOOD MANNERS. 91 

him, and continues to drink toddy or sangaree all the 
afternoon. He does not always drink tea. Between 
nine and ten in the evening he eats a light supper of 
milk and fruit, or wine, sugar and fruit, and almost im- 
mediately retires to bed for the night, in which, if he 
be not furnished with musquito curtains, he is generally 
so molested with the heat, and harassed and tormented 
with those pernicious insects, the musquitoes, that he 
receives very little refreshment from sleep." 

Mr. Smyth exaggerates his tropical picture, evi- 
dently, and perhaps made, like the celebrated Mrs. 
Trollope, a mistake as to the comparative standing of 
the people with whom he generally associated. But 
with these deductions, we may gather from his descrip- 
tion some idea of the times. 

The intimacy of the Fairfaxes was in all respects 
particularly important to Washington, and for its solid 
benefit to his fortunes, and its shaping power over his 
manners, deserves to be counted among the providen- 
tial preparations for what was to be required of him. 
His early training had certainly been of the homeliest 
sort. His father's landed possessions had brought work 
rather than money ; his mother was the declared enemy 
of all superfluity, and she counted as superfluity what- 
ever had no reference to business. The traditions of 
her neighborhood represent her as contemning the 
softer arts, and viewing with more than misgiving the 
mere graces of society. Her dutiful son, who resem- 
bled her in various respects, would, if he had remained 



92 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1748. 

with, her, have been more and more conformed to these 
leading ideas and feelings of hers, and the result would 
have been a most useful and high-minded being, quite 
as hard and angular for a man as Mrs. Mary Washing- 
ton was for a woman. 

But no ! We have looked too long in the eye of 
many a portrait of him to believe this ! He must have 
had his father's eyes and only his mother's mouth, with 
its expression of probity and resolution, and we need 
not believe that any process of mistaken training would 
or could have extinguished his taste or made him a 
mere utilitarian. 

But the Fairfaxes undoubtedly did him great esthe- 
tic as well as other service. They were high-bred 
people, wealthy, and living in the exercise of a liberal 
hospitality, as well as in constant intercourse with the 
mother country, to whom alone we looked for social ex- 
ample before the Revolution. Lord Fairfax, besides 
the advantages resulting from his rank, was of Uni- 
versity education, a man of the world, and, moreover, a 
thinker, an independent character, and remarkable for 
his sagacity and discernment. His nephew, William 
Fairfax, was rich, and held a high position in the colony. 
His seat of Belvoir continued for many years to be the 
resort of all that was to be had of well-bred and highly 
polished society. The family was altogether the first in 
the district where they lived, and one such family must 
do much toward raising the standard of manners and 
ideas in the neighborhood. They intermarried several 



1748.] ladies' society. 93 

times with the Washingtons, and had done so in Eng- 
land, before either stock was transferred to America. 

A young man must be dull indeed if the society of 
gentlemen and elegant women have no inspiration for 
him. Such a one was not George Washington, cer- 
tainly. "When we read his " Rules of Civility and 
Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation," we 
need not be assured that no grace of manner, refine- 
ment of expression or conversational improvement that 
came under his observation at Belvoir or Greenway 
Court passed without notice from him. He was notedly 
fond of ladies' society and ambitious to make himself 
agreeable to them ; and if he, at this early stage in his 
career, imbibed, under these auspices, a certain formal- 
ity of politeness, which the absorbing business in which 
he afterward engaged left him no time to amend, sup- 
posing that he saw models of any other, — we may be 
sure that in that style of manners which marks the gen- 
tleman, he could have had no better instructors than 
the Fairfaxes and their guests. 

The formal manners of the period, among people of 
the highest stamp, are well exemplified in a letter from 
Washington to Mrs. Fairfax, written not exactly at the 
time of which we are treating, but only a little later, 
when Washington was twenty-three. The mingling of 
great respect, with a certain modest self-assertion is 
very characteristic, and gives us a high idea of both 
parties. 



94 MEMOIRS OK WASHINGTON. L'748. 

"Fort Cumberland at Wills' Creek, 7th of June, 1755. 

" Dear Madam, — When I had the pleasure to see 
you last, you expressed a wish to be informed of my 
safe arrival at camp, with the charge that was intrust- 
ed to my care, but at the same time requested that it 
might be communicated in a letter to some friend of 
yours. 

" Am I to consider the proposed mode of communi- 
cation as a polite intimation of your wish to withdraw 
your correspondence ? To a certain degree it has that 
appearance, for I have not been honored with a line 
from you since I parted from you at Belvoir. If this 
was your object, in what manner shall I apologize for 
my present disobedience ; but on the contrary, if it was 
the effect of your delicacy, how easy it is to remove my 
suspicions, enliven dull hours, and make me happier 
than I am able to express, by honoring me with a cor- 
respondence you had given me hope of. 

" Please to make my compliments to Miss Fairfax, 
and to Mr. Bryan Fairfax, to whom I shall have the 
pleasure of writing as soon as I hear he has returned 
from Westmoreland." 

It is curious to note how considerable a portion of 
Washington's private correspondence is with ladies. 
We have known gentlemen who, on receiving a letter 
from a woman, even on business, would from sheer 
awkwardness reply by a verbal message, or employ a 
female friend to write the answer; but Washington 



'748.] LETTERS TO LADIES. 95 

seems never, in a single instance, to have used any pen 
except his own in such cases. His voluntary corre- 
spondence with ladies to whom he was in no way 
bound except by friendship, was very large ; in fact, 
one perceives that he must have been sometimes his 
wife's amanuensis and that he relished the duty. This 
does not bespeak the stern, rigid business machine 
which it has been the fashion to consider him, and we 
can imagine that few volumes would astonish the world 
more, than a complete collection of the letters of friend- 
ship written by Washington to ladies. 

Our limits forbid the insertion of many specimens 
even of those which are accessible at this late day, but 
here is part of one written to Mrs. Fairfax in '55, 
which shows the tone of his more familiar letters : 

" Fort Cumberland, 14th May, 1755. 

" To Mks. Fairfax, Bel voir. 

" Dear Madam, — I have at last, with great pains and 
difficulty, discovered the reason why Mrs. Wardrope 
is a greater favorite with General Braddock than Mrs. 
Fairfax, and met with more respect at the late review 
in Alexandria. 

" The cause I shall communicate, after rallying you 
for neglecting the means which produced the effect ; 
and what do you think they were ? Why nothing less, 
I assure you, than a present of delicious cake and potted 
woodcocks ! which so affected the palate as to leave a 
deep impression on the hearts of all who tasted of them. 



96 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON". [1748. 

How then could the general do otherwise than admire, 
not only the charms, but the politeness of this lady ? " 

This is about as far as "Washington ever permitted 
himself to go, in the way of fun, at least on paper, 
though he relished humor in other people. He proba- 
bly felt more at ease in writing to ladies, because his 
letters to them had no business aim ; and he liked their 
letters to him because they did not talk about business. 
It must have been a great relief to him to receive, oc- 
casionally, a communication purely friendly and social, 
and however over-occupied, harassed or vexed, this 
was one of the pleasures he never despised. 



CHAPTER X. 

Important epoch in life — Appointment as adjutant-genoral against the French — 
Called upon to go to the West Indies — Matter-of-fact observations there — Seized 
with small-pox — Washingtonian touch — Returns home — Succeeds to Mount Ver- 
non on the death of his brother — Circumstances force him too early into affairs 
— Becomes a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

The year 1751, when Washington was nineteen, was 
an important epoch in his life. Through the influence 
of his brother and other friends, he was appointed one 
of four adjutants-general for the State of Virginia, then 
much annoyed upon her frontiers by the Indian tribes, 
and not less by the encroachments of the French, who 
entertained the design of establishing themselves in 
various positions, from which they might take measures 
to extend their empire over the Western country. The 
appointment carried with it the rank of major, and the 
pay of one hundred and fifty pounds a year. Law- 
rence Washington had before held it, and would seem 
to have procured George's succession when his own 
health failed, which it did very early. The duty con- 
sisted in the assembling aud training of militia, inspect- 
ing their arms and accoutrements, and enforcing the 
laws with respect to musters and discipline in general. 



98 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1751. 

It was a post of no little responsibility, though call- 
ing for personal effort only at intervals, and it was cer- 
tainly in no other instance bestowed on a youth under 
age. Falling in as it did with the bent of George's in- 
clination, and bringing into exercise the knowledge of 
military tactics which he had taken great pleasure and 
pride in acquiring, it is no wonder he shone in the post, 
and very soon commended himself to the notice of the 
governor and council, who did not forget the infant 
major when more extensive operations were afterwards 
in contemplation. But for that year there was another 
duty waiting for Washington — a domestic one, which 
he seems to have fulfilled with a tenderness that speaks 
well for his character. His brother's illness becoming 
evidently consumptive, a voyage to the "West Indies 
was proposed for him, and George was the companion 
of the journey. They sailed for Barbadoes, and reached 
there, after a five weeks' voyage, in September, 1751. 

This was, so far as is known, Washington's only 
experience of being at sea. He kept a diary, of course, 
for that was his life-long practice ; but alas ! it contains 
no descriptive passages, no poetic dreaming, not even 
a lamentation over the dread sea-ail ; only a transcript 
of each day's log, and his own observations upon the 
weather, and the change of wind. 

He kept a journal at Barbadoes, also, but this is all 
matter of fact, too. But there is a characteristic trait 
about it that deserves to be noticed. He took the 
small-pox severely, and lay ill with it three weeks, but 



1751.] BARBADOES HOSPITALITY HOPE. 99 

amid all the minutiae of the diary, he barely men- 
tions this important fact in relation to himself. 

But let us give a few extracts from this early jour- 
nal: — 

"November 4th, 1751. — This morning received a 
card from Major Clarke, welcoming us to Barbadoes, 
with an invitation to breakfast and dine with him. "We 
went — myself with some reluctance, as the small-pox 
was in the family. We were received in the most kind 
and friendly manner by him. Mrs. Clarke was much 
indisposed, insomuch that we had not the pleasure of 
her company, but in her place officiated Miss Roberts, 
her niece, and an agreeable young lady. After drink- 
ing tea we were again invited to Mr. Carter's, and de- 
sired to make his house ours till we could provide lodg- 
ings agreeable to our wishes, which offer we accepted. 

5th. — Early this morning came Dr. Hilary, an emi- 
nent physician,. recommended by Major Clarke, to pass 
his opinion on my brother's disorder, which he did in a 
favorable light, giving great assurances that it was not 
so fixed but that a cure might be effectually made. In 
the cool of the evening we rode out, accompanied by 
Mr. Carter, to seek lodgings in the country, as the Doc- 
tor advised. We returned without accomplishing our 
intentions. 

" 10th. — We were genteelly received by Judge May- 
nard and his lady, and agreeably entertained by the com- 
pany. They have a meeting every Saturday, this being 
Judge Maynard's day. After dinner there was the 



100 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1751. 

greatest collection of fruits set on the table, that I have 
yet seen — the granadilla, sapadilla, pomegranate, sweet 
orange, waterlemon, forbidden fruit, apples, guavas, 
&c. &c. We received invitations from every gentle- 
man there. Mr. Warren desired Major Clarke to show 
us the way to his house. Mr. Haeket insisted on our 
coming Saturday next to his, it being his day to treat 
with beef-steak and tripe. But above all, the invita- 
tion of Mr. Maynard was most kind and friendly. He 
desired, and even insisted, as well as his lady, on our 
coming to spend some weeks with him, and promised 
nothing should be wanting to make our stay agreeable. 
My brother promised he would accept the invitation as 
soon as he should be a little disengaged from the doc- 
tor. 

" 15th. — Was treated with a ticket to see the play 
of George Barnwell acted. The character of Barnwell 
and several others were said to be well performed. 
There was music adapted and regularly conducted." 

During his short stay on the island, he seems to 
have closely observed the manners of the inhabitants, 
and to have criticised with remarkable sagacity the 
modes of culture, economy and government. 

" The Governor of Barbadoes," he says, " seems to 
keep a proper state, lives very retired and at little ex- 
pense, and is a gentleman of good sense. * * * 
By declining much familiarity, he is not over-zealously 
heloved." 

This last is a truly Washingtonian observation, 



1751.] TOO SINCERE FOE FLATTERY. 101 

though made so early. It breathes the very spirit of 
the writer's whole after-practice, so often complained 
of by those who would fain have been allowed famil- 
iarity with him. He obviously felt no disapprobation 
of the trait he thus noted, but rather concluded, we 
may presume, that by living retired, and not courting 
mere popularity or private adherency, the governor 
gained in dignity and safety what he lost in momentary 
praise and following. 

"Washington's never having courted private adher- 
ents has been sometimes cited as showing a reserved 
and unsocial temper ; but to the careful student of his 
life it seems to have been rather the result of his self- 
devotion as a public man, and his utter distaste of every 
thing that savored of egotism. Most friendly in his 
friendships, he chose to choose his friends. He scorned 
to pretend personal liking for purposes of interest. He 
was studiously civil to all, however unwelcome, how- 
ever disesteemed. He never wilfully offended any but 
those who began aggression, or whose want of worth or 
decency surprised him out of his inflexible propriety. 
But in no instance in the whole course of his immense 
correspondence, can an expression of personal liking be 
detected, unless addressed to known friends. 

Every body he addressed must have known exactly 
the writer's estimation of him ; and this was no way to 
gain partisans. He probably made enemies by this in- 
dependent and manly course, but only of the bad, or 



102 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1751. 

those whom he believed such. For these he seems al- 
ways to have cared very little. 

The journal goes onto say: — "There are several 
singular risings in the island, one above the other, so 
that scarcely any part is deprived of a beautiful pros- 
pect, both of sea and land ; and, what is contrary to ob- 
servations in other countries, each elevation is better 
than the next below. The earth in most parts is ex- 
tremely rich, and as black as our richest marsh mead- 
ows. How wonderful that such people should be in 
debt, and not be able to indulge themselves in all the 
luxuries as well as necessaries of life. Yet so it hap- 
pens. Estates are often alienated for debts. How per- 
sons coming to estates of two, three and four hundred 
acres (which are the largest) can want, is to me most 
wonderful. There are few who can be called middling 
people. They are very rich or very poor ; for by a law 
of the island, every gentleman is obliged to keep a white 
person for every ten acres, capable of acting in the mi- 
litia, and, consequently, the persons so kept cannot but 
be very poor. They are well disciplined and appointed 
to their several stations, so that in any alarm every man 
may be at his post in less than two hours." 

These few extracts serve to show the unaffected and 
simple style in "which Washington was thus early in 
the habit of recording his impressions — an example 
which, if well followed by all the young gentlemen of 
our day who travel the world over, would be better 
even than a Smithsonian Institute " for the advance- 



1751.] FINE SCENEKY SMAEL-P0X. 103 

nient of knowledge among men." The conscientious 
(not constitutional) moderation of Washington's expres- 
sions lias often been remarked ; only once in the course 
of this record of a visit to the tropics, by one who so 
loved the face of nature that he never remained in the 
city but at the call of duty, does a gleam of enthusiasm 
betray itself, when he says — " In the cool of the eve- 
ning we rode out, — and were perfectly enraptured with 
the beautiful prospects which every side presented to 
our view — the fields of cane, corn, and fruit trees, &c, 
in a delightful green." 

Perhaps the most characteristic part of the journal 
is that which relates to the small-pox, which, as we 
have seen, he dreaded to encounter in one of the hos 
pitable families who had invited his brother and him- 
self to visit them. He writes, about six weeks after 
that first entry — 

" 17th. — Was strongly attacked with the small-pox. 
Sent for Dr. Lanahan, whose attendance was very con- 
stant till my recovery and going out, which were not 
till Thursday, the 12th of December. 

" December 12th. — Went to town and called on 
Major Clarke's family, who had kindly visited me in 
my illness, and contributed all they could, in sending 
me the necessaries the disorder required." 

And this is all. The small-pox — a "strong" attack 
— and one which left on his noble face life-long marks 
of its power, is passed over as a small interlude, not 
worthy of being noticed in particulars, or calling for 



104 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. t 1751 - 

the slightest expression of self-pity. Yet, throughout 
Washington's whole life, he is rather remarkable for 
the interest he takes in the health of his friends and 
servants. I have, by the kindness of Prof. G. W. 
Greene, a letter written by General Washington to 
General Greene, Jan. 22d, 1780, from head-quarters 
at Morristown, remonstrating very warmly on the sub- 
ject of the discomfort suffered by his servants, for 
the want of additional quarters. " Nor is there at this 
moment," he writes, in that fine, bold, measured hand 
that he learned at Mr. Williams's school, " a place in 
which a servant can lodge with any degree of comfort 
— hardly one of them able to speak for the colds they 
have caught." 

After Mr. Lawrence Washington was established in 
lodgings, under the care of a physician, his brother left 
him and returned home, to await the result of the ex- 
periment ; but no benefit resulting to the invalid from 
his West Indian sojourn, it was arranged that his wife, 
under George's escort, should meet him at Bermuda, 
where a new attempt was to be made. But this did not 
take place, for all efforts gained not -even a reprieve. 
The brothers never met again. The progress of the dis- 
ease was so rapid, that nothing remained but a hurried 
return home, where death put a speedy termination to 
hopes and fears, and the elder brother, who had, since 
the father's death, been a second parent and worthy 
guide for George, was removed, on the 26th of July, 
1752, at the early age of thirty-four. 



1751.] PEECOCIOUS FROM NECESSITY. 105 

This occurred at Mount Vernon, and "Washington, 
who was evidently the main dependence and assistant 
in his brother's affairs throughout his illness, now took 
charge, by his brother's direction, of his business, and 
also of his family, consisting of his widow and one 
daughter, sickly from her birth. The widow married 
again, the daughter died, and the estate of Mount Ver- 
non became, by Lawrence's will, the property of George 
Washington, and an inseparable appendage to that il- 
lustrious name for ever. He very soon took up his 
abode there, and commenced a system of improvements 
which he carried on, with various interruptions, for the 
rest of his life. 

Thus it would seem that from a very early time, a 
premature manhood was forced upon him, by the cir- 
cumstances of his life and the duties required of him. 
It is true these circumstances and duties evidently owe 
their force to his fitness, and from them we gather what 
manner of person he was. When other boys are apt 
to be " sowing their wild oats," he was quietly laying 
the foundation of fame and fortune. Too soon, we 
might say, of an ordinary mind in an ordinary body ; 
for it is true, as a general rule, that the finest and most 
satisfactory development is slow. But in this case we 
can only study and wonder, and recognize the Divine 
hand. 

On the 4th of ]S ovember, 1752, at Fredericksburg 
Lodge, George Washington, then not quite twenty-one 
years of age, was initiated an apprentice in " the An- 
5* 



106 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1751. 

cient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted 
Masons." On the 3d of March, 1753, he was advanced 
to the second degree of fellow-craft ; and on the 4th of 
August next after, he was made a Master Mason. 

Afterwards, as the Grand Master of the Masons of 
the United States, he laid the corner-stone of the Capi- 
tol, at Washington ; and, last of all, he was buried with 
Masonic honors, by the lodge of which he was the first 
Master. No wonder the Masonic order is proud to 
claim him, and to display the tokens of his member- 
ship which still remain. 

He is thus referred to as a Mason, in a centennial 
oration delivered by Rev. Dr. Tyng, in 1852 : " Never 
was our fundamental principle of justice more beauti- 
fully or perfectly realized by man. Every foot of his 
wall was built in rigid conformity to the square and 
the plummet. You may trace the principle in all his 
own private accounts. To be in debt was, in his judg- 
ment, to be in slavery, a slavery to which no Free Ma- 
son could be honorably subjected. For years his books 
were kept by his own hands, in the most beautiful style 
of neatness and punctuality. He maintained a perfect 
oversight of his own business, detecting any misman- 
agement or carelessness in others, and habitually choos- 
ing never to rely upon others to do that which he 
could do for himself. In his management of public 
trusts, during the whole eight years' campaigns of the 
Revolution, he kept an exact account of all expendi- 
tures in the public service, and exhibited them in his 



1751.] DISINTERESTEDNESS TOLERATION. 107 

own handwriting to Congress at the close of the war ; 
not only refusing any remuneration for the services he 
had performed, but faithfully declaring himself largely 
a willing loser, in amounts of his own private funds, 
which had been expended in the public service. * * 
Nor was he less distinguished by one other great princi- 
ple, Love, which wrought in beneficence to the needy, in 
forgiveness to the penitent, in the kindest and most lib- 
eral construction of the motives and characters of other 
men ; in the strongest emotions of private friendship, 
and in the perfect toleration of the religious conscience 
of mankind." 



CHAPTEK XI. 

Contemporary history— George II. and his court— Rudeness of manners— General 
corruption — Incorrect spelling — Swift — Pope— Bolinghroke — Chesterfield — Lady 
M. "W. Montague — Burke — Pitt — Marlborough — Admiral Yernon — Duke of Cum- 
berland—Flora Macdonald— C. J. Fox— George III.— Wolfe— Burns— Cowper— 
Continental European sovereigns. 

Remembering how indistinct were my own juvenile 
ideas of contemporaneous history, I shall here turn 
aside to offer the younger part of my readers a few 
particulars of the time during which "Washington lived, 
from his birth upward, in order that the impression 
made by his biography may be more clear, and the 
contrast between himself and some of his contempora- 
ries more striking. 

To begin with the monarch to whom he first owed 
allegiance. George the Second was in the fifth year of 
his long reign in February, 1732, when the greatest of 
his subjects was born. 

This monarch was mean and profligate in his life 
and character, and the bad example of the sovereign 
was but too clearly reflected in the lives of the officers 
of the government and the higher nobility. A histo- 



Washington's contemporaries. 109 

rian observes of that reign that " greatness of soul was 
a quality non-existent in court or cabinet." It was no- 
ticed as a wonderful piece of virtue, when a member 
of Parliament refused a bribe of a thousand pounds 
from the Prince of Wales. Such being the state of 
things at the fountain head of authority and honor, we 
may easily draw conclusions as to the general charac- 
ter of those who were sent out to rule the distant colo- 
nies. Corruption was at its most daring point, and an 
avaricious and unprincipled sovereign would like best 
the official who was most adroit in extorting money 
from those beneath him. The great Prime Minister, 
Sir Robert "Walpole, who ruled England for thirty 
years, and who is said to have held the vile sentiment 
that " every man has his price," was at the height of 
his power. He was born in 1676, and died in 1745. 

As to the tone of morals tolerated at the English 
court at the time, we may mention that a Eirst Lord 
of the Admiralty, Lord Berkeley, proposed to the King 
the secret removal of the Prince of Wales — a most in- 
famous son, openly detested by both his father and 
mother — offering to send him away to America, " where 
he would never be heard of again." 

As to manners, one of the young princesses, at a 
levee, purposely pulled the chair from under Lady De- 
loraine, who was about to sit down ; and the lady, to 
avenge the insult, retorted it upon the king himself, by 
withdrawing his chair, and affording the court the spec- 
tacle of the monarch in the most awkward of all posi- 



110 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

tions. This being the last extreme to which rudeness 
could be carried, the occurrence seems to have aroused 
some attention, and perhaps produced some amend- 
ment. The lady was banished from court, and we 
may hope the ill-bred princess received at least a pri- 
vate reproof for her misbehavior. 

As to intelligence and information, the Duke of 
Newcastle said, " Certainly % Annapolis must be pro- 
tected ! Annapolis must be defended ! By the bye, 
where is Annapolis ? "* 

Correct spelling was by no means universal in the 
reign of George II. Mr. Croker says that " nobody's 
was unexceptionable." Pope's, for instance, was often 
wrong. 

Yet it was an age of distinguished writers. In 
1726 Swift published Gulliver's Travels. He died in 
1746. Pope, born in 1688, (which of course my read- 
ers recognise, as one of the marked dates in English 
history, the era of the revolution by which the Stuarts 
were expelled, in the person of James II.,) finished his 
translation of the Iliad in 1720. His Essay on Man was 
published in 1733, and the satirical poem called the 
Dunciad, was not completed until 17-12. Pope died in 
1744, when Washington was twelve years old. The 
poet Gay died in 1732. 

The celebrated Lord Bolingbroke, a great writer 

* The Annapolis then in question was not the capital of the State of 
Maryland, hut a fortified place in Nova Scotia, the oldest European settle- 
ment in North America. It was to be defended against the French. 



LOKD CHESTEKFIELD — LADY M. W. MONTAGUE. Ill 

and orator, who had been implicated in the attempt to 
restore the exiled royal family, and who had been sec- 
retary to the Pretender, returned to England in 1735, 
and lived until 1751. 

Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, particularly 
celebrated for the Letters to his Son, always referred 
to as containing a code of polite manners (though with 
quite too much of worldly motive intermixed to make 
it satisfactory as a guide for the young), was a particu- 
lar favorite of George II., and held many offices of 
state during his reign. He was born in 1694, and 
lived until 1773. His letters are full of wit and satire, 
but "Washington's simple " Rules for Decent Behavior 
in Company and Conversation," contain nearly all that 
is particularly valuable in them as an oracle of man- 
ners, with the addition of many important things which 
the great courtier entirely omitted, especially those 
which inculcate a religious reverence. 

Lady Mary Wortley Montague was another very 
eminent letter-writer of that time, and has a still higher 
claim to be remembered, as having introduced into 
England the art of inoculation for the small-pox, since 
superseded by the safer operation of vaccination, but 
in her day one of the greatest benefactions to the world. 
Strange to say, the attempt was one which required 
courage and perseverance such as few women possess, 
so great was the opposition, not only of the vulgar, but 
of the medical profession. Lady Mary persisted in 
having the new mode, which she had learned in Tur- 



112 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. 

key, while resident in that country, as wife of the Eng- 
lish Ambassador, tried upon her own and only son ; and 
she was obliged to watch the child herself, night and 
day, during the specified time, lest attempts should be 
made upon his life by those who desired to discredit 
inoculation. 

This lady, noted as a beauty, a wit, and one of the 
most elegant writers of her time, died in 1762. 

Edmund Burke was almost exactly, throughout, a 
contemporary of Washington. Born 1730, he died in 
1797. He made a strenuous opposition in Parliament 
to the unjust treatment of the Colonies by Great Brit- 
ain. 

The first great William Pitt, afterwards Earl of 
Chatham, but long known as the " Great Commoner," 
was born in 1708, and was just beginning to be recog- 
nized as one of the master spirits of the age, when 
Washington was born. Mr. Pitt was the persistent en- 
emy of Sir Robert Walpole, and his opposition to that 
wily minister was so powerful and efficient that the 
Duchess of Marlborough, who hated Walpole, be- 
queathed Pitt ten thousand pounds sterling as a mark 
of her gratitude. Pitt went on, steadily increasing in 
power and influence, holding many great offices of 
state, until the death of King George II., when he re- 
signed his posts, retaining only his seat in the House of 
Commons. When discontents began to arise in the 
American Colonies, Mr. Pitt was too sagacious a man 
not to see that the spirit of this country was too much 



PITT — MARLBOROUGH VERNON. 113 

like that of old England to bear very long with en- 
croachments on constitutional liberty, and he took 
every opportunity to urge a conciliatory policy, and 
especially the repeal of the obnoxious Stamp Act. Af- 
ter he was made Earl of Chatham, he continued his 
wise advocacy of just and honorable treatment of the 
colonies, but found himself poorly supported in the 
House. Persevering to the last, he was, although in 
very feeble health, speaking with his usual energy on 
the subject, in the House of Lords, when he was seized 
with a fit, and being carried out insensible, soon after 
expired, May 11, 1778. 

The great military hero, whose exploits were fresh 
in everybody's memory in "Washington's early days, 
was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, who died 
in 1722. He filled the same place in public esteem, so 
far as grand military successes go, as did the Duke of 
Wellington in our own times, though his victories can- 
not efface from the page of history the bad cpialities by 
which his glory was stained — those of avarice and dis- 
honesty. His principal victories were those of Liege, 
Blenheim, Ramillies and Malplaquet. 

Admiral Vernon (after whom Mount Vernon was 
named) was the naval hero of the time, though the 
cooler judgment of a later day has not placed him in 
the rank claimed for him by those enthusiastic admirers 
who were under his personal influence. He has been 
designated as " a blustering and wrongheaded naval 
officer, whose rash though successful attack on Porto 



114 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

Bello rendered him, for the time, the idol of the mob." 
He afterwards failed in an attempt on Carthagena, and 
another on Cuba. He' was, for a while, the rival of the 
Duke of Cumberland in popular favpr, but having af- 
terwards committed the flagrant error of disclosing 
some secret instruction ,.mch he had received from 
the Admiralty, his name was ignominiously struck from 
the list of flag officers. He died in 1759. 

The Duke of Cumberland, stigmatized by his oppo- 
nents with the opprobrious title of " the Butcher," be- 
came prominent in the civil wars by which the Young 
Pretender was finally driven from the kingdom. The 
Rebellion broke out in 1745, under the motto — " A 
grave or a throne " — and a terrible and bloody struggle 
ensued. If on one side there was rashness and folly, on 
the other there was shocking brutality. One of the 
leaders is said to have taken a staff of executioners 
with him, and to have " conferred oftener with his 
hangmen than with his aides-de-camp." The Duke of 
Cumberland, though a cousin of the Pretender, was no 
whit behind in cruelty. The battle of Culloden — 

Culloden, that reeks with the hlood of the brave, 

was the last act of the tragedy, and after it the " gentle 
Lochiel," the brave Clanrauald, and other Highland 
chiefs, sealed their devotion with their blood. 

The generous Flora Macdonald, who, at the risk of 
her life, assisted the youthful Charles at one stage of 



FOX — 'GEORGE III. — WOLFE. 115 

his wild attempt, afterwards emigrated to this country, 
but returned to Scotland during our Revolutionary 
War. She died in the Isle of Skye, in 1T90. 

The celebrated statesman and orator, Charles James 
Fox, was born 1748, and was elected to Parliament be- 
fore he was of age. In 1773 he adopted the American 
side in the controversy which then raged so hotly, and 
throughout the war was one of our most powerful 
friends in England. He died in 1806. 

George III. came to the throne in 1760, when Wash- 
ington was just married and established in life, one of 
his majesty's most loyal subjects. The year before 
1759, saw the invasion of Canada, and the death of the 
gallant Wolfe. 

It is worthy of notice, that mere bravery would not 
have left in the universal heart, the tender recollection 
which loves to dwell on the memory of this young offi- 
cer. It is his reputation for all that is gentle and 
worthy in character, and for a literary taste which was 
not crushed even by the terrific circumstances of an 
impending battle. As he was rowed softly along under 
the walls of Quebec, in the shadow of the frowning 
ramparts, he was reading or repeating in a low voice to 
the officers, his companions, the verses of Gray's Elegy, 
just received from England. " There, gentlemen," he 
said, " I would rather be the author of that poem, than 
the conqueror of Canada ! " Burns, and Cowper, and 
other poets loved to allude to him, and Wordsworth 
speaks of 



116 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

The plain 
Where hreathed the gale that caught Wolfe's happiest sigh. 

The mere soldier never excites either that kind or 
degree of interest. 

Robert Burns was born 1750, and died at the early 
age of thirty-seven — leaving an imperishable name, for 
his songs are not shut up between book-covers, or kept 
for the accompaniment of the piano or harp, but fa- 
miliar to the lips of the common people, and consecrat- 
ed in their affections. 

Cowper, as well known and almost equally beloved, 
was almost exactly contemporary with Washington. 
Born in 1731, he died in 1800. 

As to other countries, the Empress Anne ruled 
Russia from 1733 to 1740 — then Ivan — then Elizabeth 
— then Peter III. — and in 1762 Catharine II., noted 
for talent, but also for vices. She lived through the 
century. 

Frederic II., better known as Frederick the Great, 
ascended the throne of Prussia in 1740. He was one 
of Washington's most ardent admirers in after years, 
and sent him a splendid sword, with the message (for 
there is no inscription), " from the oldest general in 
Europe to the greatest in the world." 

Louis XV. was king of France from 1715 to 1774. 
Then came Louis XVI., who, with the sympathies of his 
queen, the beautiful Marie Antoinette, became our 
generous and efficient ally at the darkest period of the 
Revolution. The after fate of both is but too well known. 



KETUKN TO HOME SCENES. 117 

The popes through whose reigns Washington lived 
were Benedict XIV., Clement XIII., Clement XIY. 

But I must not be tempted into further particulars. 
Enough has been touched upon to give some little note 
of the world's condition, at the time when our own most 
interesting events were occurring. We must now re- 
turn to home scenes, and follow the youthful proprietor 
of Mount Vernon through a train of circumstances 
destined to prepare him for the part he was to sustain 
on the great stage of human affairs. 



CIIAPTEK XII. 

Preparation — Military duties — Skill recognized by the governor — Embassy to tho 
French commandant — Perilous journey — Indian Queen. 

Whatever were the cares and interests of home, 
Washington's military duties were performed in his 
own style, that is to say, with all his might. No 
languid, perfunctory service was his, in this or any 
other case. He had fitted himself for the new under- 
taking by practice in military exercises, and by the 
study of the best writers on tactics ; not with the mo- 
mentary ardor of a young man in love with an epaulette 
and a title, but as if he had even then a foreknowledge 
that he must prepare and command great armies. Not 
content with directing the movements of subordinates, 
he travelled through the. counties included in his dis- 
trict, receiving and organizing his recruits, and dili- 
gently acquainting himself with the whole field of his 
official duty in the case ; and it is very curious to ob- 
serve how, wherever he went, in pursuance of this duty, 
the first place was instantly accorded to him, and he 
as naturally accepted the position of command, without 



WASHINGTON AND HIS WOKK. 119 

the least assumption or the suggestion of it. From 
the very beginning, men seem to have been as willing 
to come under his influence as he could possibly be to 
have them there. If we can depend at all upon what 
we gather from all records of those times in Virginia, 
affairs, instruments and honors tended towards him as 
towards a centre of potent attraction. He was a natural 
focus, and by no intentional agency of his, nor yet by 
talent only, but by the natural power of character. 
Those about him were, perhaps, more prescient of his 
future destiny than he himself was. Men of twice his 
age wore an air of deference towards him. We do not 
guess at this, or gather it from his subsequent career, 
but learn it from contemporaneous records. 

The expenditure of time, labor and money in raising 
and equipping forces was by no means premature, as it 
turned out ; for both the Indians and the French grew 
bolder and bolder in their insolence, until the Virginia 
governor, Dinwiddie, a Scotchman, far less skilled than 
at least one of his adjutants in the preparation of soldiers, 
sent a messenger with presents to the Indians, and pri- 
vate orders to discover what were really the designs of 
the French. But the returns of this embassy were 
wholly unsatisfactory, and the pretended information 
proved worth nothing. The French were represented 
as tremendously formidable and desperately rapacious ; 
but such was the confusion or exaggeration of the re- 
ports, that little could be ascertained but what every 
body knew before — that these intruders would allow no 



120 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

Englishman to trade beyond the mountains, under the 
pretence that all west of the Alleghanies belonged to 
the domain of their master. 

The truth was that the French had begun the for- 
mation of that famous cordon, or line of military forti- 
fied posts, from Canada to the southern part of the 
Mississippi, which was intended to secure their ascen- 
dency in North America ; and that they had managed 
to get very much the start of the not very warlike 
colonists, who, at a somewhat late hour, had begun to 
feel that both honor and interest required an immediate 
check upon such encroachments. 

Both English and French had, before it came to 
this, made treaties with the Indians, sometimes with 
tribes rival or inimical to each other, sometimes with 
those whose only object was to obtain the largest possi- 
ble amount of presents from both parties, whether for 
aid on the one hand or betrayal on the other. What 
the Indians in general thought of this contest between 
two great nations for the possession of their aboriginal 
hunting grounds, may be gathered from the shrewd 
question put by one of them to a gentleman on a tour 
of observation among them : — " Whereabouts do the In- 
dian lands lie, since the French claim all the land on 
one side the Ohio River and the English all on the 
other?" 

Indian alliances complicated the coining war a good 
deal, for messengers and reconnoitring parties were sure 
to fall in with plenty of red men, and it was often very 



1753.] EMBASSY TO THE FRENCH. 121 

difficult to distinguish friend from foe, especially when 
both were found under the same ochre and feathers at 
different times, and this often at an interval of a few 
hours only. The business of traversing the,, woods was 
almost as hazardous as in the times of Tancred, when 
the trees could hear and talk. But Governor Dinwid- 
die had sagacity enough to know where to apply, after 
his first messenger failed ; and Major George Washing- 
ton required no second bidding to become his honor's 
commissioner for ascertaining the intentions of the 
savages in certain quarters, and — a still more delicate 
errand, — demanding of the French commandant by 
what authority and with what design he presumed to 
invade the dominions of His Majesty, King George the 
Second. 

Here is the commission of the young major, only 
just "major" in the legal sense : — ■ 

"I, reposing especial trust and confidence in the 
ability, conduct and fidelity of you, the said George 
Washington, have appointed you my express messenger ; 
and you are hereby authorized and empowered to pro- 
ceed hence, with all convenient and possible dispatch, to 
that part or place on the river Ohio where the French 
have lately erected a fort or forts, or where the com- 
mandant of the French forces resides, in order to deliver 
my letter and message to him ; and, after waiting not 
exceeding one week for an answer, you are to take 
leave, and return immediately back. 

" To this commission I have set my hand, and caused 



122 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

the great seal of this Dominion to be affixed, at the 
city of Williamsburg, the seat of my government, this 
30th clay of October, in the twenty-seventh year of the 
reign of His Majesty, King George the Second, King 
of Great Britain, &c, &c, Annoque Domini, 1753. 

Robert Dinwiddie." 

" All his Majesty's subjects and all in amity or 
alliance with the crown of Great Britain," were also 
charged to further " George Washington, Esquire, com- 
missioner under the great seal," and " to be aiding and 
assisting to the said George Washington and his at- 
tendants in his present passage to and from the river 
Ohio, as aforesaid." 

The party consisted of eight persons ; — Mr. Gist, 
the same who received from the Indians the posing 
question as to the ownership of the lands on either side 
the Ohio, — an experienced woodsman and valuable aid ; 
John Davidson, an interpreter for the Indians ; Jacob 
Van Braam, a Dutchman, who could speak French, 
which Washington himself unfortunately could not, 
and the major himself. Van Braam was the man from 
whom Washington had learned the art of fencing. 

These, with four attendants, completed the chief's 
party, which set out from Williamsburg, on the 31st of 
October. It must have required some courage, and no 
little confidence in one's resources of health, strength 
and perseverance, to begin a journey of five hundred 
and sixty miles, on horseback, through woods and over 



1753.] HARD DUTY IN WINTER. 123 

mountains, in the winter season, with the prospect of 
camping out nearly every night. There is a charming 
picture, by an American artist, of the party making 
their slow way through the woods in a heavy snow-storm, 
one of the most lifelike and. rememberable of our home- 
landscapes. 

It was a fortnight before the cavalcade reached 
"Will's Creek, where the stream breaks through the 
Alleghanies with great rocky cliffs on either side, form- 
ing a scene of Alpine grandeur. 

This was on the very confines of civilization, and 
here the party plunged into the pathless forests of the 
mountains, to encounter all the horrors of cold, fatigue, 
and savage ambush. " The inclemency of the season," 
says Mr. Sparks, " the Alleghanies covered with snow, 
and the valleys flooded with the swelling wa'ters ; the 
rough passages over the mountains, and the difficulties 
in crossing the streams by frail rafts, fording or swim- 
ing, were obstacles that could be overcome but slowly 
and with patience." 

And by energy and patience they were overcome, 
and the young soldier found himself, on the twenty-fifth 
day after leaving Williamsburg, at Logstown, an Indian 
settlement, where his instructions required him to hold 
a conference with Tanacharison — known as the Half- 
King, — and other sachems of the Six Nations, and ob- 
tain from them guides and guards for the remainder of 
the journey, as well as all possible information as to the 
intentions of the French. 



124 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

The Half-King's intelligence was that the French 
had already built several forts on the Mississippi and 
one on the Ohio ; and when required to pilot the mes- 
senger's party to their quarters, he said that the nearest 
and most level road was now impassable, by reason of 
great marshes, at that season full of water. By the 
other road, it would take five or six " nights' sleep," to 
reach the nearest fort, where visitors must not count 
upon a very civil welcome. 

He, the Half-King, had been received with great 
sternness by the commandant, and in reply to the abrupt 
question what his business was, had answered in a 
speech which, as recorded by the strictly veracious pen 
of "Washington, presents as much dignity and good 
sense as ever novelist put into the mouth of the ideal 
red man, — a style of eloquence which may generally be 
classed as the millionth dilution of the Ossianic poetry. 

For the sake of justice, we will quote a part of this 
Indian warrior's speech, which shows how much a man, 
however ignorant, gains by speaking only when he has 
something to say, and leaving off as soon as he has 
done. 

" Fathers — I have come to tell you your own 
speeches, what your own mouths have declared. 
Fathers, you, in former days, set a silver basin before 
us, wherein was the leg of a beaver, and desired all the 
nations to come and eat of it, to eat in peace and 
plenty, and not to be churlish to one another ; and that 
if any person should be found to be a disturber, I here 



1753.] INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 125 

lay down by the edge of the dish a rod which yon must 
scourge them with ; and if your father should get fool- 
ish in my old days, I desire you may use it upon me as 
well as others. 

"' Now, Fathers, it is you who are the disturbers in 
this land, by coming and building your towns, and 
taking it away unknown to us and by force. 

" Fathers, we kindled a fire a long time ago, at a 
place called Montreal, where we desired you to stay, and 
not to come and intrude upon our land. I now desire 
you may dispatch to that place, for, be it known to you, 
fathers, that this is our land and not yours. 

" Fathers, I desire you may hear me with civilness ; 
if not, we must handle that rod which was laid down 
for the use of the obstreperous. If you had come in a 
peaceable manner, like our brothers, the English, we 
would not have been against your trading with us as 
they do ; but to come, fathers, and build houses on our 
land and take it by force, is what we cannot submit to. 

" Fathers, both you and the English are white ; we 
live in a country between ; therefore the land belongs 
neither to the one nor to the other (of you.) But the 
Great Being above allowed it to be a place of residence 
for us ; so, fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have 
done our brothers, the English, for I will keep you at 
arm's length. I lay this down as a trial for both, to see 
which will have the greatest regard to it, and that side 
we will stand by, and make equal sharers with us. Our 
brothers, the English, have heard this, and I come now 



126 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

to tell it to you, for I am not afraid to discharge you 
off this land." 

The French superintendent seems to have replied in 
a very truculent spirit, as reported by the Indian chief. 

" Nov, my child, I have heard your speech ; you 
spoke first, but it is my turn to speak now. Where is 
my wampum, that you took away with the marks of 
towns upon it ? This wampum 1 do not know, which 
you have discharged me off the land with ; but you 
need not put yourself to the trouble of speaking, for I 
will not hear you. I am not afraid of flies or moscpii- 
toes, for Indians are such as those. I tell you, down 
that river I will go, and build upon it, according to my 
command. If the river was blocked up, I have forces 
sufficient to burst it oj)en, and tread under my feet all 
that should stand in opposition, together with their 
alliances, for my force is as the sand upon the sea 
shore. Therefore here is your wampum, I sling it at 
you. 

" Child, you talk foolish ; you say this land belongs 
to yon, but there is not the black of my nail yours. I 
saw that land sooner than you did, before the Shan- 
noahs and you were at war. Lead was the man who 
went down and took possession of that river. It is my 
land, and I will have it, let who will stand up and say 
against it. I will buy and sell with the English. If 
people will be ruled by me, they may expect kindness, 
but not else."* 

* This must be understood to be the interpreter's translation of the 



1753.] WASHINGTON IN KEPLY. 127 

Mr. Sparks remarks here, that " the high-minded 
savage was not aware that, as far as he and his- race 
were concerned, there was no difference between his 
professed friends and open enemies. He had never 
studied in the school of politics, which finds an excuse 
for rapacity and injustice in the law of nations, nor 
learned that it is the prerogative of civilization to prey 
upon the ignorant and defenceless." 

On the 26th a council was held, and Washington in 
his turn made a speech, with the usual sprinkling of 
" Brothers," hut stating candidly and succinctly the 
objects of his journey. The Half-King desired him not 
to be in a hurry, and suggested some reasons for delay ; 
to which the envoy, after much argument and remon- 
strance, was obliged to yield, for fear of defeating the 
purpose of his mission. 

" As I found it was impossible," he says, " to get off 
without affronting them in the most egregious manner, 
I consented to stay." 

Three chiefs and one of the best of the hunters were 
at length appointed to compose the convoy, and on the 
4th of December they arrived at Yenango, an old In- 
dian settlement at the mouth of French creek, on the 
Ohio, " without any thing remarkable happening," says 
Washington, " but a continued series of bad weather." 

Here they fell in with Captain Joncaire, an inter- 
preter, and one who had great influence with the In- 
French officer's idioms into very homely English ones, for it is not likely 
that a gentleman would talk about the " black " of his nail. 



128 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

dians. He assumed to be the commander of the Ohio, 
but recommended the young commissioner to cany his 
business to the general, who had his quarters at the 
near fort. At first the French at Venango were ex- 
tremely civil, but when the wine began to go round, 
they verified the proverb * by telling much that they 
had intended to conceal : that it was their fixed design 
to take possession of the Ohio, and that they would do 
it, too ; for although they knew the English could raise 
two men for their one, yet their motions were too slow 
and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of the French. 

Captain Joncaire plied the Indians with liquor, and 
used every possible artifice to entice them to go no fur- 
ther. But, after much difficulty, the party was once 
more on the road, and, toiling three days longer, " through 
excessive rains, snows, and bad travelling through many 
mires and swamps," they at length reached the fort, 
and there found the French commander, a Knight of 
St. Louis, Legardeur de St. Pierre, a gentlemanly, keen 
old soldier. The fort was a considerable one, garrisoned 
at that time by about one hundred men and a large 
number of officers. 

Washington was politely received, and soon de- 
livered his message ; and while the commandant and 
his officers were debating upon the requisitions of Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie, Washington was reconnoitring in 
every direction, taking the dimensions of the fort, 
counting the canoes, etc. 

* When wine is in, wit is out. 



1753.] CHEVALIER ST. PIERRE. 129 

The latter amounted to about fifty, laid up in readi- 
ness to convey the forces down the river in the Spring. 
It was probably in contempt of what the English might 
do that the chevalier allowed these examinations to be 
made by an enemy. On Washington's inquiring of the 
Chevalier de St. Pierre by what authority he had made 
prisoners of several English subjects, he said that the 
country belonged to the French, and that he had orders 
to make prisoner every Englishman who attempted to 
trade on the waters of the Ohio. 

The Sieur St. Pierre was profuse in expressions of 
civility ; but it soon became evident that he did every 
thing in his power to separate the convoy from the 
party. Washington says, in his journal : " I cannot say 
that ever in my life I suffered so much anxiety as I did 
in this affair." His life had not been very long, but his 
manner of expressing himself was so habitually mode- 
rate, that we may imagine great perplexity from this. 
To leave the Half-King behind, was to give him and his 
followers over to the French interest, which was not to 
be thought of. Washington went to the general and 
remonstrated, was met with fair words and professions 
as usual, but could not get his Indians off, liquor being 
again put in requisition to incapacitate them for every 
thing but quarrelling or sleeping. 

At length the Half-King, for shame's sake, put an 
end to the delay, and the party set out on their return, 
to travel one hundred and thirty miles in canoes, the 
horses, quite exhausted, having been sent off unloaded. 



130 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

The travellers were destined to encounter new hard- 
ships in the new mode of exploring a wilderness. 
" Several times," writes the chief in his report, " we 
had like to have been dashed against rocks ; and many 
times we were obliged, all hands, to get out, and re- 
main in the water half an hour or more, getting over 
the shoals." Pleasant work for December ! " At one 
place the ice had lodged, and made it impassable by 
water ; we were therefore obliged to carry our canoe 
a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Venango 
till the 22d, where we met with our horses." 

The horses being nearly useless, from hard work and 
poor feeding, the cold increasing every day and the 
roads being blocked up by a heavy snow, Washington, 
anxious to get back and make his report to the gov- 
ernor, resolved upon attempting to perform the re- 
mainder of the journey on foot, accompanied only by 
Mr. Gist, the most experienced of the party, and leaving 
the baggage and effects in charge of Mr. Yan Braam. 
With gun in hand, and the necessary papers and pro- 
visions in a pack strapped on his back, he set out, with 
a single companion, to thread the trackless forest, on 
the 26th of December, not without some misgivings, 
as we may well believe. On the second day the two 
travellers encountered a party of Indians in league with 
the French, evidently lying in wait for them. One of 
the savages fired at them, not fifteen paces off, and 
missed ; but instead of returning the fire, which might 
have brought the whole pack upon them, they simply 



1753.] ADVENTURE OF THE KAFT. 131 

took the fellow into custody, disarmed him, and kept 
him close till nine o'clock in the evening ; then let him 
go, and, after making a tire to deceive the enemy, walked 
all night to get the start of whoever might attempt to 
follow. The next day they walked on until dark, and 
reached the river about two miles above the Fork of the 
Ohio, the ice driving down in great quantities. 

Here it was that the incident of the whirling raft 
occurred, which had so nearly changed the fortunes of 
our first struggle for independence, if not the whole 
destiny of our country for an age or two at least. The 
journalist states the occurrence thus: 

" There was no way for getting over but on a raft, 
which we set about with one poor hatchet, and finished 
just after sunsetting. This was one whole day's work. 
We next got it launched, then went on board of it and 
set off; but before we were half way over, we were 
jammed in the ice in such a manner that we expected 
every moment our raft to sink and ourselves to perish. 
I put out my setting pole to try to stop the raft, that 
the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of the stream 
threw it with such violence against the pole, that it 
jerked me out into ten feet water, but I fortunately 
saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft logs. 
Notwithstanding all our efforts, we could not get to 
either shore, but were obliged, as we were near an 
island, to quit our raft and make to it. The cold was 
so extremely severe that Mr. Gist had all his fingers and 
some of his toes frozen, and the water shut up so hard 



132 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

that we found no difficulty in getting off the island on 
the ice in the morning." 

We have seen several picturings of the scene on the 
raft, and one of Washington struggling in the icy water, 
but we should like to see one that would express the 
condition of the two half-frozen travellers on the island, 
through that terrible night, without tent or fire, and 
wrapped in the stiff, frozen clothes with which one of 
them, at least, must have come on shore. Not a word 
is said of this in the journal; of the horrors of cold, 
fatigue and hunger all at once ; the long hours till 
morning, the reasonable dread of such savage dangers 
as had already been encountered. Well may Wash- 
ington say this travel of eleven weeks had been " as 
fatiguing a journey as it is possible to conceive ; " and 
he adds, " from the 1st day of December to the 15th, 
there was but one day on which it did not snow or rain 
incessantly ; and throughout the whole journey we met 
with nothing but one continued series of cold, wet 
weather, which occasioned very uncomfortable lodgings, 
especially after we had quitted our tent, which was some 
screen from the inclemency of it." 

Uncomfortable lodgings ! 

One amusing incident forms but a slender coun- 
terbalance to all this toil and suffering, yet we will 
quote it, to lighten our picture a little. 

There was a certain Indian princess, called by the 
English settlers Queen Aliquippa, whose royal wigwam 
was placed somewhere near the route of the youthful 



1753. J QUEEN ALIQUIPPA. 133 

commissioner. She being, like other petty sovereigns, 
exceedingly jealous as to her dignity, expressed herself 
highly offended, that Major Washington with his suite 
should have passed her by, on his outward journey, 
without turning aside to pay his respects. 

Hearing this, he resolved to make honorable amends 
on his return, and accordingly presented himself, worn 
and weary as he was, to assure her copper-colored 
majesty that no offence was intended. 

But ladies of her class are not easily appeased by mere 
words, and we judge that in this case there must have 
been a remnant of displeasure lingering on the royal 
brow ; for we learn that ere his peace was fully made, 
Major Washington had, with his usual gallantry, pre- 
sented Queen Aliquippa with — not French gloves and 
Eau de Cologne, as some of our readers might suppose, 
but — his old watch-coat and a bottle of rum — " which 
latter," says Washington's journal, " was thought much 
the better present of the two." So tastes differ. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

Report to the Governor — Journal published in England — French and Indians more 
troublesome than ever — Supplies very slow — Colonel "Washington rather indig- 
nant. — Death of Jumonville — Misrepresentations respecting it — The mild and 
peaceful character of Washington's mind. 

Reaching Williamsburg on the sixteenth of January, 
1754, Major "Washington made his report to Governor 
Dinwiddle, delivering also the letter of the French 
commandant. The council ordered the raising of two 
companies of men, by way of preparation for resisting 
the encroachments of the French, now perceived to be 
assuming a hostile attitude toward the colonists. Ma- 
jor Washington was at once appointed to the command 
of these troops, and by way of informing the people of 
the probable designs of the French, and exciting their 
indignation to the pitch of war, the Governor ordered 
the journal, from which we have cpioted a few passages, 
to be published entire, much against the inclination of 
the writer, who thought very little of it. It was re- 
printed in England, and attracted much attention there. 
The Governor's orders to his young commander and his 
subordinates were, " to drive away, kill, and destroy, 



1754.] RAISING TROOPS WITHOUT MONEY. 135 

or seize as prisoners, all persons not the subjects of the 
king of Great Britain, who should attempt to settle or 
take possession of the lands on the Ohio river, or any 
of its tributaries." 

But the country in general was not particularly 
well-disposed toward the warlike manifestations planned 
by Governor Dinwiddie, who writes somewhat piteously 
to the Lords at home, " I am sorry to find them very 
much in a republican way of thinking." He persevered, 
however, and enlistments went on ; the forces were in- 
creased, and demands for aid made on the neighboring 
colonies. Washington's experience in raising and equip- 
ping troops without money commenced here ; he writes, 
from his head-quarters at Alexandria, to the Governor, 
that his men are much discouraged for want of pay, and 
that many of them are without shoes or stockings, some 
without shirts, and not a few without coats or waist- 
coats. 

Washington was at this time raised to the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel, second in command under Colonel 
Fry, an excellent officer. Cannon and other military 
equipments, recently arrived from England, were sent 
to Alexandria, for the use of the growing army. 

French aggressions on the Ohio precipitated hostili- 
ties somewhat. Some men who were building a fort, 
were attacked by a thousand French under Captain 
Contrecoeur, and were forced to leave the ground, the 
French staying to complete the works, which they 
named Fort Duquesne, in compliment to the Governor 



136 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 

of Canada. Colonel Washington occupied an outpost, 
much exposed, and his force was quite insufficient for 
any serious resistance ; but he lost not a moment in 
pushing forward into the wilderness, to clear and pre- 
pare a road— an effort which would at least give active 
business to his men, and keep off discontent and ti- 
midity. 

To all hardships were superadded that of scanty 
fare, that least tolerable ill to a laborer. But the young 
chief thought there was "no such word as fail" for 
him, at least ; and he tried to find an expeditious pas- 
sage by the Youghiogany river, in the course of which 
he encountered rocks and shoals, and at length came 
to a fall, which rendered further exploration impracti- 
cable. 

When he returned to the camp, he received a warn- 
ing message from the Half-King, importing that the 
French were marching towards him, determined upon 
an attack. On further information of the near ap- 
proach of the enemy, Washington set off to join the 
Half-King, a task of no small difficulty, as the march 
was to be performed in the night, in a violent storm of 
rain, and through an almost trackless wilderness. 

That the state of affairs at this time was not wholly 
satisfactory, may be judged from the following passage 
in a letter addressed by Colonel Washington to the 
Governor : — " Giving up my commission is quite con- 
trary to my intention. Nay, I ask it as a greater favor 
than any amongst the many I have received from your 



1754.] POOR PAY WOKSE THAN NONE. 137 

Honor, to confirm it to me. But let me serve volunta- 
rily ; then I will, with the greatest pleasure in life, de- 
vote my services to the expedition, without any other 
reward than the satisfaction of serving my country ; 
but to be slaving dangerously for the shadow of pay, 
through woods, rocks, and mountains — I would rather 
prefer the great toil of a daily laborer, and dig for a 
maintenance, provided I were reduced to the necessity, 
than serve upon such ignoble terms. * * * * I 
hope what I have said may not be taken amiss, for I 
really believe, were it as much in your power as it is in 
your inclination we should be treated as gentlemen 
and officers, and not have annexed to the most trifling 
pay that ever was given to English officers, the glo- 
rious allowance of soldier's diet, — a pound of pork, 
with bread in proportion, per day. Be the consequence 
what it will, I am determined not to leave the regi- 
ment, but to be among the last men that shall quit the 
Ohio." 

A painful occurrence, at this stage of the border 
war, was the death of M. Jumonville, a French cap- 
tain, who fell in an attack led by Washington himself, 
all the circumstances of which unhappy affair have 
been strangely misrepresented by the French histo- 
rians. They assert that Jumonville advanced in the 
pacific character of a messenger. Washington ob- 
serves — " Thirty-six men would almost have been a 
retinue for a princely ambassador instead of &jpetit * 
* * An ambassador has no need of spies ; his char- 



138 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

acter is always sacred. Since they had so good an in- 
tention, why should they remain two days within five 
miles of us, without giving me notice of the summons, 
or any thing that related to their embassy ? * * * 
They pretend that they called to us as soon as we were 
discovered, which is absolutely false ; for I was at the 
head of the party approaching them, and I can affirm 
that as soon as they saw us, they ran to their arms 
without calling, which I should have heard had they 
done so." 

The short and simple account given by Washington 
to Governor Dinwiddie is this : — " I set out with forty 
men, before ten r and it was from that time till near sun- 
rise before we reached the Indians' camp, having 
marched in small paths, through a heavy rain, and a 
night as dark as it is possible to conceive. We were 
frequently tumbling over one another, and often so lost 
that fifteen or twenty minutes' search would not find 
the path again. 

" When we came to the Half-King, I counselled with 
him and got his assent to go hand in hand and strike the 
French. Accordingly he, Monacawacha, and a few 
other Indians, set out with us, and when we came to the 
place where the troops were, the Half-King sent two In- 
dians to follow the tracks and discover their lodgment, 
which they did, at a very obscure place, surrounded with 
rocks. I thereupon, in conjunction with the Half-King 
and Monacawacha, formed a disposition to attack them 
on all sides, which we accordingly did, and after an en- 



1753.] DEATH OF JUMONVILLE. 139 

gagemenl of fifteen minutes, we killed ten, wounded 
one, and took twenty one prisoners. Amongst those 
killed, was M. Jumonville, the commander. The prin- 
cipal officers taken, are M. Drouillon and M. La Force, 
of whom your Honor has often heard me speak, as a 
hold, enterprising man, and a person of great subtlety 
and cunning. These officers pretend that they were 
coming on an embassy ; but the absurdity of this pre- 
text is too glaring, as you Avill see by the instructions 
and summons enclosed. Their instructions were to re- 
connoitre the country, roads, creeks and the like, as far 
as the Potomac, which they were about to do. These 
enterprising men were purposely chosen out to procure 
intelligence, which they were, to send back by some 
brisk dispatches, with the mention of the clay that they 
were to serve the svimmons, which could be with no 
other view than to get reinforcements to fall upon us 
immediately after." 

History is really disgraced by the attempt to repre- 
sent the death of the commander of such a party, under 
such circumstances, as an " assassination :" yet M. M. 
Flassan, Lacretelle, Montgaillard, and a recent writer 
in the '' Biographie Universelle," are only a few of the 
French historians that have fallen into this gross error, 
the sole authority for which is a letter written by M. 
Contreeoeur to the Marquis Duquesne, which letter 
gives the Governor the report of a Canadian who ran 
away at the beginning of the skirmish, and the rumors 
gathered among the Indians. 



140 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 

Not content with all this prosaic slander, M. Tliomas 
wrote an epic entitled " Jumonville" the subject of 
which he states as " L'assassinat de M. Jumonville en 
Amerique, et la vengeance de ce meurtre," a poem 
which Zimmerman cites as a remarkable instance of 
the effect of national antipathy. The poet calls the 
occurrence " un monument de periidie, qui doit indig- 
ner tous les siecles ; " adding, " On doit employer tous 
les moyens pour en perpetuer le souvenir." The poem 
represents Jumonville as 

Ce heros iraissant la valciir et les arts ; 

Les palmes de Minerve et les lauriels de Mars. 

" Tlie preface,"' observes Mr. Sparks, " contains an 
exaggerated paraphrase of M. Contrecoeur's letter, as 
the groundwork of the author's poetical fabric. With 
the materials thus furnished, and the machinery of the 
deep and wide forests, the savages, the demon of bat- 
tles and the ghost of Jumonville, his epic speedily as- 
sumes a tragic garb, and the scenes of horror, and the 
cries of vengeance cease not till the poem closes." 

Washington, with his usual self-abnegation in cases 
merely personal, never took the least pains to justify 
himself by declaring publicly the falsity of the stain 
thus sought to be fixed upon his character. He had 
the unqualified approbation of the authorities under 
whose orders he acted, and of the government at home, 
and he was content. Governor Dinwiddie wrote thus 
to Lord Albemarle: — "The prisoners said they were 



1753.] MISREPRESENTATIONS. 141 

come as an embassy from the fort ; but your Lordship 
knows that ambassadors do not come with such an 
armed force, without a trumpet or any other sign of 
friendship ; nor can it be thought they were on an em- 
bassy, by their staying so long reconnoitring our small 
camp ; but more probably that they expected a rein- 
forcement to cut us off." 

Washington's private journal of the affairs of the 
time, which was lost at the fatal defeat of General 
Braddock, was many years after discovered in Paris, 
and found to confirm the statement given in his letter 
to his brother. So it is to be hoped future French his- 
torians will be content at least to reduce the depth of 
color which their predecessors have thought suitable to 
this event ; and allow the death of M. Jumonville to 
assume its true aspect and position, as one of the legit- 
imate horrors which follow in the train of war — hor- 
rors which Washington was never known either wil- 
fully or carelessly to increase. 

Let us again and again observe, in studying the 
career of Washington from the very beginning, how en- 
tirely lie was a man of peace, though so large a portion 
of his life was passed in making war, and that with an 
iron will and unflinching thoroughness. He seems to 
have done his duty in the character of a soldier, just as 
coolly and advisedly as he did it in that of a surveyor. 
As soon as he knew his work, he set about it with all 
his powers of mind and body ; but we never feel, for a 
moment, that war was the work he loved. He loved 



142 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. ■ [1753. 

rural life, the occupations of the farm, the sports of the 
field, the quiet enjoyments of the fireside. None of his 
tastes tended towards war. 

Much has been said of his reserve, as if it had been 
hauteur or exclusiveness, bespeaking a certain ferocity, 
suited rather to military than to social life ; but his let- 
ters and his constant home practice show conclusively 
that no man found society more necessary to his happi- 
ness, or more frequently confessed his need of friend- 
ship. He kept only his cares to himself; and those 
only when to impart them would have been injurious 
or unprofitable. 

As he grew older, weighty business made him more 
grave and silent ; but we should always carry with us, 
in attempting to appreciate his character as a man, the 
idea of him that we gather from the records of his ear- 
lier days ; the kindliness, the sociability, the generous 
confidence, the courageous candor that marked him 
then, and evidently formed part of the very structure 
of his being. Whoever can read his journals and 
early letters without imbibing an affection as well as 
reverence for him, must have sat down to the task pre- 
possessed by ideas derived from the received ideas re- 
specting his later life. 

In Washington's maturer years, the report of a 
fowling-piece was the only warlike sound that had any 
music for him, and as he grew older he loved the low- 
ing of kine, the murmur of his trees, the crackling of a 
bright wood fire, and the laugh of children, better still. 



1753.] LOVE OF PEACE. 143 

Not a letter of his that contains any allusion to his pri- 
vate and personal tastes, but breathes the very spirit of 
a love of retirement and domestic repose. After he 
was President he said — " I can truly say I had rather 
be at Mount Yernon, with a friend or two about me, 
than to be attended, at the seat of government, by the 
officers of state, and the representatives of every power 
in Europe." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Ill success at first — Surrender of Fort Necessity — French aggressions — Complaints- 
General Braddock's defeat and death. 

Thorough as had been his preparation, and unsparing 
as he was in labors and sacrifices, Washington was by 
no means remarkably successful in his early warlike 
attempts. We cannot describe them as brilliant affairs, 
except as having given opportunity for the display of 
his prudence and courage, and the good conduct of 
those he commanded. He says of himself, in a letter 
to Mrs. Fairfax, 1755, "If an old proverb will apply to 
my case, I shall certainly close with a share of success, 
for surely no man ever made a worse beginning than I 
have." The difficulties under which he labored were 
too great. Then, as afterwards, it was too often his 
lot to be obliged to create the means by which he was 
to work, and imperfection and delay were the conse- 
quence. He never had, from first to last, enough or 
good enough men, horses, arms or other equipments of 
war. Perhaps if he had we might never have discov- 



1754.] DEFEAT AT FORT NECESSITY. 145 

ered all his powers, for ample means eke out small 
abilities. 

There was thus no dazzle of success to attract the 
attentions of Governor Dinwiddie, or the councils, or 
the public ; yet "Washington was again and again called 
upon — always called upon, when military business was 
to be done. Whether he succeeded or not, he was 
praised, and respected, and employed again ; and 
whether he was paid or not, he still wished to be em- 
ployed. His only concern seems to have been about 
his honor — that nothing should be done or consented to 
that would debase him in his own eyes or those of oth- 
ers, or especially any thing that would in the slightest 
degree tarnish his character and position as a gentle- 
man. He was entirely defeated at Fort Necessity, in 
the centre of the Great Meadows, where the French at- 
tacked him, in a violent storm, at a time when his men 
were worn down with toil and travel. A more disas- 
trous and mortifying accident for a young commander 
could hardly occur. His want of knowledge of the 
French language was here, as in many other cases, a 
great disadvantage to him. The articles of capitula- 
tion were translated miserably, and, as is proved, incor- 
rectly, by Yan Braam, in the rain, and by the light of 
an expiring candle ; "Washington, on the spot, and 
without time for deliberation, objecting to various items, 
which the French modified or omitted. The little de- 
tachment, helpless for the time, finally marched out of 
the fort, drums beating and colors flying; and "Wash- 



146 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 

ington led the retreat through the wilderness, back to 
Will's Creek, where he left the remnant to recruit, 
forty-three wounded men being a part of the burthen, 
while twelve dead were left at the fort. 

Under these circumstances, Colonel Washington and 
his officers received a vote of thanks from the Virginia 
House of Burgesses, who showed their sagacity in ap- 
preciating his services and abilities, without waiting for 
the sanction of success. The Half-king's conclusion 
was that " the French were cowards, the English fools." 
Washington he considered " a good man, but unwise," 
in not taking example by the Indians in the art of fight- 
ing. The Indian name for Washington was Conno- 
taucarius, a name, Mr. Sparks tells us, referring to his 
official position, not to his personal qualities. 

The French boasted immensely of their success at 
the Great Meadows, and not only indulged in self-glo- 
rification, but relaxed their vigilance, particularly at 
Fort Duquesne ; which induced Governor Dinwiddie, 
who was ambitious in the military line, to plan an at- 
tack on that point. He applied at once to Washington, 
who discouraged him as far as he could ; saying that 
without troops enough, and at that late season (the au- 
tumn of 1754), the thing could result only in a new de- 
feat. The young soldier, just turned twenty-two, writes 
thus to Mr. William Fairfax, President of the Coun- 
cil :— 

" I have orders to complete my regiment, and not a 
sixpence is sent for that purpose. Can it be imagined 



1754 ] WANTS OF THE TROOPS. 147 

that subjects fit for this service, who have been so much 
impressed with and alarmed at the want of provisions, 
which was a main objection to enlisting before, will 
more readily engage now, without money, than they 
did before with it ? * * To show you the state of 
the regiment, I have sent you a Report, by which you 
will perceive what great deficiencies there are of men, 
arms, tents, kettles, screws (which was a fatal want 
before), bayonets, cartouch-boxes, and every thing else. 
Again, were our men ever so willing to go, for want of 
the proper necessaries of life they are now unable to do 
it. The chief part are almost naked, and scarcely a 
man has either shoes, stockings, or a hat. These things 
the merchants will not credit them for. The country 
has made no provision ; they have not money them- 
selves ; and it cannot be expected that the officers will 
engage for them again, personally, having suffered 
greatly on this head already. * * There is not a 
man that has a blanket to secure him from cold or 
wet." 

It is not to be wondered at that Washington became 
a miracle of care and forethought, when we see that at 
twenty-two it was already his duty to represent and 
argue upon these details. At sixty-eight he was still 
urgent on the same subjects. 

Governor Dinwiddie was by no means well pleased 
with the objections made by Colonel Washington, not 
knowing enough of military matters to see the imprac- 
ticability of projects so ill prepared for. He was an 



MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 

arbitrary and wrong-headed man, claiming grand pre- 
rogative, and disposed to undervalue all obstacles which 
lay in the way of his favorite projects. So he privately 
wrote home to England, and procured the passage of a 
law by which the colonial officers were to be ranked as 
inferior to those of equal title, who should be sent out 
from the mother country, or " home," as England was 
then called. This was intended to bring to their senses 
Colonel Washington and other officers, whom the gov- 
ernor wished to compel to a more submissive course ; 
but the very first thing Colonel Washington did, on the 
occasion, was to resign his commission. His services 
being fully recognized by all persons of judgment, 
Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, who had received from 
the king the commission of commander-in-chief of the 
forces intended to act against the French, in that quar- 
ter, wrote to him, entreating him to resume his position 
in the army. But this Washington wholly declined. 
" I choose," he says, " to submit to the loss of health, 
which I have already sustained (not to mention that 
of effects), and the fatigue I have undergone in our first 
efforts, rather than subject myself to the same incon- 
veniences, and run the risk of a second disappoint- 
ment." 

General Braddock having come from England com- 
mander-in-chief of all the military forces in North 
America, and having been informed of Washington's 
qualifications and services, and the cause of his resig- 
nation, declared the young gentleman was quite right, 



1754.] GENERAL BRADDOCk's CLAIMS. 149 

and forthwith invited him to become his aid-de-camp, 
or as the phrase is, one of his military family. This 
arrangement was intended to obviate the difficulty 
about rank, and Washington very soon concluded to 
accept the offer. He says : — " I must be ingenuous 
enough to confess that I am not a little biassed by selfish 
considerations. To explain — I wish earnestly to attain 
some knowledge in the military profession, and, believ- 
ing a more favorable opportunity cannot offer, than to 
serve under an officer of General Braddock's abilities 
and experience, it does, you may reasonably suppose, 
not a little contribute to influence my choice." 

General Braddock's experience, though of forty 
years' standing, had not been of a kind likely to be of 
much service to him in the wild border warfare of a 
new country, necessarily carried on in the most irregu- 
lar and laborious manner, amidst swamps and wilder- 
nesses, over untracked mountains, and through bridge- 
less rivers. He had seen service only in the Guards, 
and under the Duke of Cumberland, noted more for 
his attention to mere technical punctilio, than for his 
sagacity or high soldiership. The general, like many 
other officers of his time, was rather a roue as to char- 
acter, and having run his career in fashionable life, was 
disposed to adopt the fashionable idea, that the colonies 
and the colonists were a sort of inferior world, claim- 
ing very little respect, and only worthy of the least at- 
tention as a source of revenue to the " mother coun- 
try." French encroachment on this poor territory must 



150 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

of course be resisted, and the general cared hut to vin- 
dicate British honor against the hereditary enemy, with 
very little idea of any value or dignity in the country 
to be defended, or the people who were humbly to 
fight under his orders. He and his troops were to be 
the heroes of the campaign, though a certain amount 
of brute force was to be levied among the uninstructed 
natives. Colonel Washington, young, handsome, brave, 
and connected with the " best families," he seems to 
have thought an exception to the general rule, and it is 
evident that, from the beginning, the general treated 
the defeated defender of Fort Necessity with instinct- 
ive respect, although he rejected with scorn the cautious 
advice prompted by past disasters. Washington writes 
thus to Mr. Fairfax, about General Braddock's hasty 
temper : — " The general, by frequent breaches of con- 
tracts, has lost ail patience ; and for want of that tem- 
perance and moderation which should be used by a 
man of sense upon these occasions, will, I fear, repre- 
sent us in a light we little deserve ; for, instead of blam- 
ing individuals, as he ought, he charges all his disap- 
pointments to public supineness, and looks upon the 
country, I believe, as void of honor and honesty. We 
have frequent disputes on this head, which are main- 
tained with warmth on both sides ; especially on his, 
who is incapable of arguing with or giving up any 
point he asserts, let it be ever so incompatible with 
reason or common sense." 

Washington was living at Mount Vernon when 



1755.] BRILLIANT PREPARATIONS. 151 

Braddock fixed his head-quarters at Alexandria ; and 
the glitter and din of grand military preparations must 
almost have pierced his shades. All his military blood 
stirred at the thought of an expedition splendidly pro- 
vided with all those things, for want of which he had 
in his former campaign suffered so severely. His 
mother begged him to stay at home and take care of 
his plantation, which had already felt and must still 
further feel the disadvantage of his absence ; but he 
could not hear the grand new trumpet without a thrill 
and a forward impulse. Here he was going to see war 
indeed ! Not the shabby, discouraging, inglorious war 
of men without hats and shoes, kettles and bayonets, 
but the military array of a young officer's brightest 
dreams — a host in gallant uniforms, with nodding 
plumes, the clang of inspiring music, and the dazzling 
splendor of banners flaunting in the sun. "Victory was 
a thing of course. The want of proper equipment had 
occasioned defeat and mortification. The presence of 
every -thing that a soldier's heart could wish or his fancy 
devise, was sure to bring triumph that would extinguish 
all memory of former failure. His mother, hearing 
of his intent of joining Braddock's expedition, flew to 
Mount Yernon to plead against it, but in vain. A se- 
vere fit of illness intervened, but nothing could turn 
him from his purpose. 

He writes to Lieutenant Orme, General Braddock's 
aide-de-camp : " My fevers are very moderate, and, I 
hope, near terminating. Then 1 shall have nothing to 



152 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

encounter but weakness, which is excessive, and the 
difficulty of getting to you arising therefrom. But this 
I would not miss doing before you reach Duquesne, for 
five hundred pounds. However, I have no doubt, now, 
of doing it, as I am moving on, and the general has 
given me his word of honor, in the most solemn man- 
ner, that it shall be effected." 

He pushed forward in a covered wagon, and in spite 
of weakness managed to keep closely in the rear of the 
army, ready for the immediate use of his returning 
strength. He was often heard to observe, in after life, 
that the appearance of Braddock's troops, on the morn- 
ing of the 9th of June, 1755, was the most splendid 
spectacle he had ever seen." 

The actual result of all this promise and splendor 
is too well known to need recapitulation here, espe- 
cially as I have resolved not to encumber and darken 
my pages with the hateful details of battle. In Mr. 
Irving's Life of Washington will be found the living 
picture of Braddock's defeat — a defeat which, without 
a d^ubt, might have been turned into a victory, if the 
English general had adopted the advice of the young 
Continental colonel, which he could hardly be expected 
to do, especially as he was by no means a wise and ju- 
dicious man, although certainly a brave one. He paid 
for his error with his life, and is said, with his dying 
breath to have acknowledged to Washington his regret 
that he had not listened to prudent counsel. His re- 
mains were deposited at Fort Necessity, not far from 



1755.] PERSONAL BRAVERY. 153 

the spot on which Washington had been compelled to 
sign articles of capitulation only a year before. 

Another failure for "Washington ! another cruel dis- 
appointment at the outset of life. But he never shone 
brighter than on that disastrous day. All that an al- 
most frantic bravery could do to retrieve its fortunes, 
this man, whom we are accustomed to think of as im- 
movable, and who was still at this time weak from the 
effects of fever, is reported to have tried. Two horses 
shot under him, and his coat well riddled with rifle 
balls, showed how he exposed himself to the enemy's 
sharp-shooters. His own account of the battle, written 
to his mother, lest she should hear exaggerated reports, 
and be alarmed, gives a frightful picture of his danger, 
and seems as if he was even then astonished at his 
wonderful escapes. A spectator says : — " I saw him 
take hold of a brass field-piece as if it had been a stick. 
He looked like a fury ; he tore the sheet-lead from the 
touch-hole ; he pulled with this and pushed with that, 
and wheeled it round like nothing. The powder- 
monkey rushed up with the fire, and then the canaon 
began to bark, and the Indians came down." 

Nothing but disgrace and defeat was the result of 
this unhappy blunder of General Braddock, except to 
Washington, who, in that instance, as in many others, 
stood out individual and conspicuous, by qualities so 
much in advance of those of all the men with whom 
he acted, that no misfortune or failure ever caused him 

to be confounded with them, or included in the most 

7* 



154 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

hasty general censure. It is most instructive as well as 
interesting to observe that his mind, never considered 
brilliant, was yet recognized from the beginning as al- 
most infallible in its judgment, while his character, a 
tower of strength for the weak, commanded the respect 
even of the supercilious, and was ever a terror to the 
selfish, dishonest and cowardly. 



CHAPTER XY. 

Death of General Braddock — His estimate of Washington — Discontents— Exulta- 
tion of the French — New appointments — Terrible alarm of the people — Emotion 
of "Washington — Journey to Boston— Introduction to Miss Mary Philipse — Es- 
teem in which Washington was held. 

General Braddock, mortally wounded by one of the 
concealed enemies he despised, died three days after, 
a melancholy death. 

Washington, who had been all action, first in the 
field, and afterwards in collecting the scattered forces 
and baggage, and conveying the wounded to a place of 
succor, read the funeral service over the unhappy 
commander,, and saw him quietly interred, the usual 
military ceremonies being rendered impracticable by 
the near neighborhood of hostile Indians. His mention 
of General Braddock in letters of the time is very kind 
and generous. Before the battle he had commented 
severely upon the impetuosity and wrong-headedness, 
which he soon discovered in the officer whom he had 
expected to find a master in the art of war ; but after 
these qualities had brought about their sad result ; after 
the youthful aide-de-camp had seen the contemptuous 



156 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

disregard of his own prudent and modest advice come 
to just what he expected, he had not a word of any 
thing but pity and condolence. 

To the last, General Braddock honored him ; and 
tradition says, that he even apologized, in his last mo- 
ments, for a petulance of manner which, in the calm 
hours of approaching dissolution and the light of sad 
experience, he felt ashamed of. He left Washington 
his favorite horse, and recommended to his care his ser- 
vant, Bishop, who never quitted his new master till 
death separated them. After all this was over, and the 
only surviving aide-de-camp had seen his wounded 
brother officers well cared for, he began to complain 
again of the feebleness which had been forgotten while 
all depended on his activity. He went as soon as he 
could to Mount Vernon, where he arrived July 26th 
1T55, and there sat down to recruit his health, as well 
as to see after home affairs, which had suffered sadly 
during his absence. Mr. Jefferson says, " Every one 
knows how inevitably a Virginia estate goes to ruin 
when the owner is so far distant as to be unable to pay 
attention to it himself; and the more especially when 
the nature of his employment is of a character to abstract 
and alienate his mind from the knowledge necessary to 
good and even to saving management." Washington 
always felt this when he was long absent from home ; 
and as he set out in life with the desire and determina- 
tion to acquire an honorable independence, this disad- 
vantage of absence annoyed him not a little, and we 



1755.] LESSONS OF ADVERSITY. 157 

find frequent allusions to it in his letters. Shortly after 
the last battle, he thus sums up his experience in a 
letter to his brother Augustin : " I was employed to 
go a journey in the winter, when I believe few men 
could have undertaken it, and what did I get by it ? 
My expenses borne ! I was then appointed, with tri- 
fling pay, to conduct a handful of men to the Ohio. 
What did I get by that ? Why, after putting myself to 
a considerable expense, in equipping and providing 
necessaries for the campaign, I went out, was soundly 
beaten, and lost all ! Came in, and had my commission 
taken from me ; or, in other words, my command re- 
duced, under pretence of an order from home. I then 
went out a volunteer with General Braddock, and lost 
all my horses, and many other things. But this being 
a voluntary act, I ought not to have mentioned it, nor 
should I have done it, were it not to show that I have 
been on the losing order ever since I entered the ser- 
vice, which is now nearly two years." 

It would have been hard, then, to make him believe 
that defeat and loss were good things for him. He would 
have trusted himself with any amount of prosperity and 
success ; but now that it is all over, every body can see 
how important was this early training of disappointment 
and humiliation. " It is good for a man that he bear 
the yoke in his youth." And there is reason to believe 
that "Washington would have been in great danger of 
self-sufficiency, and a certain degree of arrogance, if 
success in these first undertakings had come in aid of 



158 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

conscious merit and ability, to make him overrate him- 
self. But these lessons, and the wise use he made of 
them, kept him, through life, nicely balanced between 
a sense of power, a consciousness of desert, on the one 
hand, and on the other, the modesty and self-distrust 
which always come to great minds from large experi- 
ence. Impulses of duty and ability made him under- 
take greater and greater things, all his life through, but 
what he had learned by failure always preserved him 
from rashness, and even a too sanguine anticipation of 
results. He had ever in view the possibility of failure, 
and he was wont to provide for that failure as coolly and 
carefully as he planned the attempt, be it what it might. 
The French and Indians were more insolent than 
ever after the astounding defeat of Braddock's large 
and well appointed force — a defeat as unexpected to 
the victors as to the poor general himself. That a 
British army of three thousand men should, by sheer 
folly and blundering, fall before a small scouting de- 
tachment composed of French and Indians, numbering 
not nine hundred in all, could hardly at first be under- 
stood or believed by either side. When De Contrecoeur, 
who remained at Fort Duquesne, saw the small force 
he had sent out, under Captain De Beaujeu, merely to 
give a check to the enemy while he could deliberate 
upon abandoning the fort, returning in triumph with a 
long train of pack-horses laden with booty, the savages 
uncouthly clad in the garments of the slain, — grenadiers' 
caps, officers' gold-laced coats and glittering epaulettes, — 



' 755.] THE PEOPLE AROUSED. 159 

flourishing swords and sabres, or firing off' muskets and 
uttering fiendish yells of victory * — he was bewildered, 
and for a while knew not what to think. But as soon 
as it became certain that a casualty had relieved him 
of his fears and frustrated the power of his enemies, his 
exultation knew no bounds. From this mortification 
of British pride, and the violent shock it gave to the 
opinion of British invincibility, he and his people 
augured complete and final triumph, and the accom- 
plishment of all their ambitious designs. 

But though the whole country was in consternation 
at the news of this terrible blow, it only roused all the 
more determined spirit of self-defence, and put to 
flight the languor or procrastination which had made 
the raising of the other troops and munitions difficult. 
Instead of leaving the matter carelessly in the hands of 
the authorities, the people themselves volunteered in 
companies, and demanded leaders and supplies which 
should enable them to march at once upon the in- 
truders and their savage allies. They had suspected, 
at the outset, that the war against the French, in this 
country, was a mere fringe of that between the two 
powers on the other side of the water— a political affair 
in fact — and they cared little about it, except to get off 
as easily as possible. But now resistance became a 
matter of personal feeling. Friends and neighbors, as 
well as conspicuous men and gallant officers had been 
sacrificed, and the blood of the country was up, ready 

* Irving.— Vol. 1. p. 207. 



160 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

to avenge them, and to drive the enemy beyond the 
chance of further depredations. The Assembly met ; 
Governor Dinwiddie required money ; forty thousand 
pounds were voted, and orders were issued for raising a 
regiment of a thousand men. Washington was at once 
called for, and he as readily responded, so far as his 
willingness to serve the country was concerned. But 
this time he would do so on his own terms, and not on 
the humiliating and vexatious ones of the past ; and de- 
manded conditions to which the authorities were only 
too happy to accede. His mother implored him not 
again to expose himself to the dangers and losses of war 
and absence, and he wrote her, saying he would not 
serve unless a command were pressed upon him by the 
general voice of the country, nor even at that call, un- 
less on terms so satisfactory that it would reflect dis- 
honor on him to refuse, " and that, I am sure," he adds, 
" must and ought to give you greater uneasiness than 
my going in an honorable command." It was on the 
very day this letter was written that the appointment 
came, with such accompaniments as could not be ob- 
jected to. He was constituted commander-in-chief of 
all the forces of the colony, and at the same time re- 
ceived, by vote of the Assembly, three hundred pounds, 
as some compensation for his recent losses, the other 
officers and privates of the Virginia companies receiving 
proportionate sums. The country rang with his praises, 
and even the pulpit could not withhold its tribute. 
The Reverend Samuel Davies hardly deserves the repu- 



1755.] TERRIBLE ALARM AND DISTRESS. 161 

tation of a prophet for saying, in the course of a eulogy 
on the bravery of the Virginia troops — " As a remark- 
able instance of this, I may point out that heroic youth, 
Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Provi- 
dence has hitherto preserved, in so signal a manner, for 
some important service to his country." 

Mr. Irving observes that the public confidence in 
Washington was the more creditable to the good sense 
of the legislature, inasmuch as Governor Dinwiddie was 
no great friend to Washington, who was rather too in- 
dependent for him, and that he would much have prefer- 
red the advancement of Colonel James. It remains, Mr. 
Irving says, " an honorable testimony to Virginia in- 
telligence, that the sterling, enduring, but undazzling 
qualities of Washington were thus early discerned and 
appreciated, though only heralded by misfortunes." 

Washington fixed upon Winchester, the county town 
of Frederick County, Virginia, about one hundred and 
forty miles northwest of Richmond, as his head-qnarters, 
and from this point he at once began to send out and 
collect what was requisite for a new campaign. He 
found the little place in the greatest confusion ; the 
country people flocking in for protection, while the 
ablest inhabitants of the town were trying to get away 
from a spot which seemed likely to become a theatre 
of war or at least of alarm. It required incessant ex- 
ertion on his part to obviate the disastrous effects of a 
general panic, and he writes to his friends in terms of 
the warmest indignation, at the cowardice of the people, 



162 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 

and their backwardness in attempting any thing rational 
for the defence of their families and property. 

In the midst of all this, a terrible report was raised 
of Indians within a few miles of the place, burning and 
destroying all before them. Washington from the first 
discredited the rumor, and endeavored to concentrate 
the attention of the townspeople on the important work 
immediately before them ; but new scouts coming in 
with new assertions of threatening danger, he at length 
sallied forth, at the head of about forty men — all he 
could possibly induce to accompany him — and marched 
to the scene of action. " When we came there," he says 
in a letter, " whom should we find occasioning all this 
disturbance, but three drunken soldiers of the light- 
horse, carousing, firing their pistols, and uttering the 
most unheard-of imprecations?" No wonder that 
Washington, now twenty-three years of age, was out of 
all patience at such weakness and folly in the very peo- 
ple on whom he had to depend for support and aid, in 
an expedition of the greatest importance to them all. 
He says, " the inhabitants are really frightened out of 
their senses." 

He was doomed, throughout this recruiting and pre- 
paring period, to encounter all the evils of insubordina- 
tion, inactivity, perverseness and disunion among the 
troops, with the further vexation of deficient support on 
the part of the government ; while the real sufferings 
and dangers, and above all, the killing terrors of the 
inhabitants of the outer settlements, wrung his heart 



1755.] SYMPATHY WITH SOKROW. 163 

with anguish. That heart which some have thought 
cold, was the heart of a man. Severe upon unworthy 
fears, he was full of sympathy for well founded ones. 
In one of his expostulatory letters to the timid and time- 
serving Governor Dinwiddie, his feelings burst their 
usual guarded bounds : " I am too little acquainted, 
sir, with pathetic language, to attempt a description of 
the people's distresses ; but I have a generous soul, sen- 
sible of wrongs and swelling for redress. But what 
can I do ? I see their situation, know their clanger and 
participate in their sufferings, without having it in my 
power to give them further relief than uncertain pro- 
mises. In short, I see inevitable destruction in so clear 
a light, that unless vigorous measures are taken by the 
Assembly, and speedy assistance sent from below, the 
poor inhabitants that are now in forts must unavoidably 
fall, while the remainder are flying before a barbarous 
foe. In fine, the melancholy situation of the people, 
the little prospect of assistance, the gross and scandal- 
ous abuse cast upon the officers in general, which re- 
flects upon me in particular for suffering misconduct of 
such extraordinary kinds, and the distant prospect, if 
any, of gaining honor and reputation in the service, 
cause me to lament the hour that gave me a commission, 
and would induce me, at any other time than this of 
imminent danger, to resign, without one hesitating mo- 
ment, a command from which I never expect to reap 
either honor or benefit ; but, on the contrary, have al- 
most an absolute certainty of incurring displeasure be- 



164 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 

low, while the murder of helpless families may be laid 
to my account here. The supplicating tears of the wo- 
men and moving petitions of the men melt me into such 
deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if I know my 
own mind, I could otfer myself a willing sacrifice to the 
butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to 
the people's ease." 

Some difficult questions of subordination arising in 
the course of the confused and obstructed preparations 
for a new campaign, it was decided to refer to the judg- 
ment of Colonel Shirley, at that time (1756) com- 
mander-in-chief of his Majesty's forces in North Amer- 
ica, and Washington was appointed emissary in" the 
case. For this purpose he made a journey to Boston — 
five hundred miles on horseback in the depth of winter, 
— visiting the principal cities on the way, and acquiring 
information and making acquaintances which proved 
useful to him ever after. General Shirley decided the 
point in question favorably to Washington's views, and 
after an agreeable visit at Boston, the young com- 
mander returned to New York. 

Here he was entertained for the second time at Mr. 
Beverly Robinson's, and became acquainted with the 
young lady who has derived no little celebrity from 
the fact that she awakened, in the anxious and busy 
heart of the young soldier, some new care, of a softer 
kind than that which attended the management of re- 
fractory recruits. Miss Mary Fhilipse, sister of Mrs. 
Robinson, was a handsome and sprightly girl, a great 



1756.] MISS MARY PHILIPSE. 105 

belle in her day, and a worthy and accomplished woman 
always. Washington, who had by this time, doubtless, 
lost in the stir of war all tender recollection of the 
" Lowland beauty " spoken of at an earlier date, seems 
at once to have struck his flag before this new invader, 
whose power was very probably increased by the circum- 
stances of the moment. After the annoyance, the 
rough life, the constant and severe duty of a recruiting 
tour in a state of alarm, the quiet, the elegance, the 
softening atmosphere, of a New York drawing-room, 
must have given the young lady great advantages. 
Washington fancied this fair flower transplanted to 
Mount Vernon, and carrying with her the charming 
refinement, the genial air in which he found her. No 
wonder the fascination took effect. But somebody else 
— another officer — had indulged the same dream, and 
somewhat in advance of the Virginia colonel. Wash- 
ington could not remain to try his fortunes in a pro- 
longed contest. Captain Morris, one of General Brad- 
dock's aides, and wounded in the miserable battle of the 
Monongahela, stationed in New York, and not now 
called away by duty, kept his ground, and the result 
was that in due time Miss Philipse became Mrs. Morris, 
while another lady, — no less celebrated for personal 
charms as well as those of fortune and position, — was re- 
served for the future of Washington. 

The difficulties of his position in Virginia must, 
however, soon have driven all tender thoughts from his 
mind for the time. He was goaded and discouraged to 



166 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. f!75fi. 

such an extent that he even had thoughts of again re- 
signing his commission. Some anonymous person, or 
probably some one who was nettled at Washington's 
jnst reproaches, had circulated tales reflecting upon his 
honor and fidelity, laying the blame of the recruiting 
difficulties upon him, instead of on the authorities of the 
colony and the people themselves. But the friends of 
the young chief soon argued him out of a resolve too 
impetuous to be wise. Mr. Carter says — " Rather let 
Braddock's bed be your aim, than any thing that might 
discolor those laurels Avhich I promise myself are kept 
in store for you." Colonel Fairfax says — " Your good 
health and fortune are the toast of every table. Among 
the Romans, such a general acclamation and public re- 
gard, shown to any of the chieftains, were always es- 
teemed a high honor, and gratefully accepted." (The 
Romans had not yet gone out of fashion, in those days.) 
Mr. Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, a 
personal friend, wrote — " Our hopes, dear George, are 
all fixed on you, for bringing our affairs to a happy issue. 
Consider of what fatal consequence to your country 
your resigning your commission at this time may be ; 
more especially as there is no doubt most of the officers 
would follow your example." Certainly the youthful 
hero stood in need of a misfortune now and then, to 
counteract the effect of so much praise. In the present 
state of affairs, however, surrounded by difficulties, 
goaded by the distress of the inhabitants, and, in the 
midst of all his trials and anxieties, occasionally se- 



1757.] A SEVERE ILLNESS. 167 

verely reprimanded by the Governor, — who did not 
find him submissive enough, and who winced under his 
persevering remonstrances, — he had just enough to pre- 
serve him from the danger of vainglory. All these, 
with undue exposures and irregular ways of life, with 
many fatigues and trials, ended in a fit of illness, which 
confined him at Mount Vernon for four months. The 
very letters that Washington wrote during the period 
of these harassing duties, would have been sufficient to 
furnish full and diligent occupation to any other man 
but himself. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Active people apt to be low-spirited when they are ill — Health brings enterprise — 
Adoption of the hunting-shirt — Difference of opinion on road-making — Vexatious 
delays — Benefits of experience — More remonstrances — Resignation. 

Washington, like a good many other very active peo- 
ple, was always rather low-spirited when he was ill, 
prognosticating an unhappy result, and chafing under 
the necessary confinement. 

The four months' illness of 1757 annoyed him terri- 
bly. He wrote to his friend, Col. Stanwix : — 

" My constitution is much impaired, and nothing 
can retrieve it but the greatest care, and the most cir- 
cumspect course of life. This being the case, as I have 
now no prospect left of preferment in the military way, 
and despair of rendering that immediate service which 
my country may require from the person commanding 
its troops, I have thoughts of quitting my command 
and retiring from all public business, leaving my post 
to be filled by some other person more capable of the 
task, and who may, perhaps, have his endeavors 
crowned with better success than mine have been." 



1757.] ADOPTION OF THE HUNTING-SHIRT. 169 

He thinks he is in danger of an " approaching de- 
cay," and that he is " visited with several symptoms of 
such a disease." 

He had before this set off for Williamsburg, but 
found himself unable to proceed, his fever and pain 
being much increased by the effort. After a while, 
however, he began to feel somewhat recruited, and 
with the return of a tolerable state of health, the old 
impulse came back upon him in full force, and he again 
joined the army, now preparing for a well-concerted 
expedition for the final reduction of Fort Duquesne. 
He was again appointed commander-in-chief of the 
Virginia troops, which formed one half of the force 
prepared for this service. Colonel Byrd commanded 
the other regiment. 

Delays, unavoidable in the condition of the colony, 
at that time caused a good deal of irregularity and dis- 
satisfaction, and all Washington's abilities, civil as well 
as military, were required to harmonize and put in 
order the unruly citizen-soldiers. 

One of his expedients of economy was the adoption 
of the Indian dress for men and officers. " Nothing 
but the uncertainty of obtaining the general approba- 
tion," he says, " causes me to hesitate a moment to 
leave my regimentals at this place, and proceed as light 
as any Indian in the woods. It is an unbecoming dress, 
I own ; but convenience rather than show, I think, 
should be consulted." Mr. Irving observes that this 
movement of Washington's was the origin of the pres- 



170 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1757. 

ent rifleman's dress. Dress was ever a matter of im- 
portance with Washington. He did not pretend to de- 
spise it or think it beneath a wise man's notice. In 
those clays there were much greater distinctions and 
choice in dress than at present ; rank and breeding 
were expressed to a certain degree by the costume, and 
Washington evidently thought the impression a gentle- 
man makes and the respect he attracts, largely depend- 
ent on his taste in dress. If he had ever quoted Shaks- 
peare, he would have echoed, for the benefit of his 
} r oung friends, the advice of old Polonius — 

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, 

But not express'd in fancy ; rich, not gaudy ; 

For the apparel oft proclaims the man. 

Even when the advantage of the service was in 
question, it evidently cost him some little sacrifice to 
set aside personal appearance, and come down to the 
unsuperfluous casing of the Indian. 

There was a warm debate about the road to be taken 
by the army in approaching Fort Duquesne. Colonel 
Bouquet wanted to make a new road as they went 
along, but this Washington argued would probably de- 
lay the march to so late a season of the year, as might 
frustrate the plan entirely. He considered the road 
made with so much toil and cost by General Brad- 
dock's army, the only one really practicable under the 
circumstances, and he left no effort or argument untried 
to carry this, which he thought so important a point. 



1757.] GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY LOST. 171 

" If Colonel Bouquet succeeds on this point with the 
general, all is lost — all is lost ; indeed our enterprise is 
ruined, and we shall be stopped at the Laurel Hills this 
winter ; but not to gather laurels, except of the kind 
that covers the mountains." 

He could not prevail, however ; and as usual when 
counsels dictated by his knowledge and experience 
were slighted, those concerned had reason to repent it. 
Six weeks were expended in making a road of forty- 
five miles, time enough for the whole force, an army 
of six thousand men, to have reached Fort Duquesne, 
by the road already made ; when it was ascertained 
that at that time the French and Indians at the fort 
were not more than eight hundred. Washington wrote 
very warmly about this. " Behold how the golden op- 
portunity has been lost, perhaps never more to be re- 
gained ! '' But after the attempt at road-making had 
turned out just as had been predicted, the general, 
Forbes, feeling that he had made a mistake, now called 
the young Virginia colonel to his counsels, and com- 
pensated by the deference which he paid to Washing- 
ton's opinions, for the slight way in which he had at 
first been disposed to pass them by. It was evidently 
very hard for these high-toned British officers to be- 
lieve that so young a man was a safe counsellor. In 
Braddock's day Washington was twenty-three ; at the 
time of the new expedition he was but twenty-six ; and 
young gentlemen of that age are not usually much rev- 
erenced by gray-beards. Washington, however, was 



172 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1757. 

destined to be an exception to general rules in this re- 
spect. 

Much as he had been opposed to General Forbes's 
plan, he was far above the littleness of attempting to 
thwart it in order to gain credit for himself, at the ex- 
pense of the general. As soon as he found the thing 
determined against his views, he fell to work as hear- 
tily as if he thought the plan the wisest in the world, 
and only asked for himself and his men to be put in 
the foremost of the breach and attack. 

" If any argument is needed to obtain this favor," 
he says, " I hope without vanity I may be allowed to 
say that, from long intimacy with these woods, and fre- 
quent scouting in them, my men are at least as well 
acquainted with all the passes and difficulties, as any 
troops that will be employed." 

This request was granted, and we have full particu- 
lars of the difficulties of the march, and of the young 
commander's care and skill in getting through them. 
When the forces reached Fort Duquesne they found it 
abandoned, and, as far as possible, burnt to the ground, 
the French having declined awaiting the attack of so 
formidable an army. All the five months' preparation 
had so delayed the expedition, that the enemy had had 
ample time to concert these measures, and to save 
themselves from loss. The weary and half-naked Vir- 
ginia regiment reached the fort over paths where the 
bones of their neighbors and friends lay whitening, un- 
buried, since the defeat of Braddock's army, their num- 



1757 d LONGING TO RESIGN. 173 

• 

bers increased by the sad relics of a recent imprudent 
attempt of Colonel Grant, for the particulars of which 
we must refer the reader to Mr. Sparks or Mr. Irving. 

General Forbes being ill, Washington wrote, in- 
forming the Governor of Virginia of the state of things, 
congratulating him and the country on the reduction 
of the long disputed post, and at the same time plead- 
ing earnestly for a supply of clothing and other ne- 
cessaries for his men, part of whom were to be left 
behind to garrison the remains of the fort. 

" Considering their present circumstances," he 
writes, " I would by no means have consented to leave 
any part of them there, had not the general given me 
express orders. * * * By their present nakedness, 
the advanced season, and the inconceivable fatigues of 
an uncommonly long and laborious campaign, they are 
rendered totally incapable of any sort of service ; and 
sickness, death and desertion must, if they are not 
speedily supplied, greatly reduce their numbers. To 
replace them with equally good men Mall, perhaps, be 
found impossible." 

Washington was always the friend of his men. He 
never forgot their comfort or their interest. He never 
ceased insisting on their rights, whether of pay or 
proper accommodations, and they repaid him with cor- 
responding respect and devotion. 

At the end of this campaign, when he had been 
about five years in active service, he wanted to resign 
his commission and return home to see after his private 



174 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1757. 

affairs, and prepare for domestic life. On this occasion 
his officers wrote him an eloquent and most enthusias- 
tic letter, which enumerates all the qualities that go to 
the making of a good commander, not omitting un- 
yielding discipline, and ascribes all of them to the 
colonel of twenty-six. In closing, they add — " But if 
we must be so unhappy as to part, if the exigencies of 
your affairs force you to abandon us, we beg it, as a 
last request, that you will recommend some person 
most capable to command, whose military knowledge, 
whose honor, whose conduct and whose disinterested 
principles we may depend on." And, " we beg to as- 
sure you that as you have hitherto been the actuating 
soul of our whole corps, we shall at all times pay the 
most invariable regard to your will and pleasure, and 
will always be happy to demonstrate by our actions, 
with how much respect and esteem we are," &c. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

A new acquaintance and new interest — A fair lady with a fair fortune — Marriage and 
housekeeping — Handsome compliment and natural embarrassment — Yiew of plan- 
tation-life and its requirements — Fashions of the day — Eural life not exempt from 
them. 

While Washington was travelling in the course of the 
expedition to Fort Duquesne, he was introduced, at the 
house of Mr. Chamberlayne, a planter on York River, to 
the lady who not long afterward became his wife. 

Mrs. Martha Custis was the widow of a gentleman 
of fortune, who had died about two years before, leaving 
her with two children and a large estate, of which she 
was sole guardian and executrix. She was very hand- 
some, and seems to have been considered quite a prize 
for Washington, who was at that time by no means rich. 
They were married on the 6th of January, 1759, when 
Washington was twenty-seven years of age, and Mrs. 
Custis about the same age or perhaps a few months 
older ; and after three months spent at the White House, 
a country seat on York River, they took up their 
abode at Mount Vernon, and commenced housekeeping 
in true Virginia style, with a large number of slaves, a 



176 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 

wide tract of little cultivated land, and a custom of al- 
most boundless hospitality. Nobody foresaw, then, 
what intense interest was to gather about that newly 
formed household. There was youth and beauty, and 
wealth and social distinction — an honorable fame be- 
longing to the husband, to the wife a reputation for 
beauty, riches and virtue. All that the world has to 
give was there, plain to the eyes of the most careless 
observer. And the young couple settled down into re- 
gular plantation life, as if they had been the commonest 
people in the world — giving dinners and dining out ; 
attending balls at Alexandria, and court at Williams- 
burg, seeing to the negroes, who gave them just as 
much trouble as slaves always give their owners, and 
keeping up a correspondence with every twentieth 
cousin, with a faithfulness hardly credible in our over- 
occupied days. 

But who would not give gold to have seen Colonel 
and Mrs. Washington in that heyday of life and hope, 
full of interest and energy, in the very prime of strength 
and beauty ? Washington six feet three,* and of a pres- 
ence that had already begun to strike men with sur- 
prise and admiration, as it did afterwards with awe ; 
his wife a small, plump figure, full of sprightliness and 
feminine grace, fond of gayety, and not insensible to her 
many advantages ; proud of her husband and making 
her duty to him the law of her life, yet loving her own 
way too, and claiming the privileges of her sex and 

* Sparks' Life. — p. 110. 



1759.] HANDSOME COMPLIMENT. 177 

circumstances. Who would not love to have seen 
them ? 

It was in these palmy days that a handsome compli- 
ment was planned for the bridegroom — no less than 
public thanks for past services, to be expressed viva 
voce, in the Virginia House of Burgesses, by the mouth 
of a friend, Mr. Robinson, the Speaker. Colonel Wash- 
ington, a newly elected member, was about to take his 
seat in the House for the first time, when his attention 
was called to what was about to proceed from the Chair. 
All eyes were fixed on himself, he was addressed by 
name, his services were succinctly enumerated, the 
gratitude of the country was painted in glowing terms, 
and then came an awful pause — a silence which was to 
be broken by an acknowledgment of the honor on the 
part of the recipient. 

But this was not the field on which Washington felt 
at home. Never fluent, and now perfectly overcome by 
embarrassment, he tried to speak, but the words died 
on his lips. " Mr. Speaker," he said ; " Mr. Speaker " 
— and then he stopped. Robinson, who knew him well, 
and loved him, saw at once what the case was. " Sit 
down, Mr. Washington," said he, and added with a 
happy readiness — " Sit down, sir ; your modesty equals 
your valor, and that surpasses any power of language 
that I possess." 

This traditional anecdote is one of the most signifi- 
cant of all that we possess. It is indeed the voucher 



178 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 

for the general correctness of many others less fully 
authenticated. 

As we have no direct testimony to the kind of life 
led by the young couple at Mount Vernon — nothing 
beyond what is traditionally known of plantation-life 
at that period, or may be gathered in general from 
letters of the day, we shall take the liberty of using 
some of the private papers which we find in that pre- 
cious box, with a description of which we commenced 
our little history. Trifles are sometimes acceptable as 
furnishing significant accessories to a picture. 

"We have before observed that Washington, with all 
his supposed stoicism, was by no means indifferent to 
dress. Infinitely small as was certain provision of 
this sort which he made for attending court at Fred- 
ericksburg, in 1747, — as we have seen,* there is yet a 
gravity in the enumeration of shirts and " Hoes " which 
bespeaks a little interest in those respectable articles of 
costume. In 1757, there has been a large step towards 
the adonizing that young men are generally prone 
enough to. An order upon a London merchant — Mr. 
Richard Washington, but apparently not a relative 
within traceable distance, — includes a large quantity of 
" Irish Linnens," — for so "Washington spelt the word all 
his days ; — " 1 piece Finest Cambric ; 2 pr. fine worked 
ruffles at 20s. pr. pair ; 2 setts compleat shoe brushes ; 
^ doz. pr. Thread Hose at 5s. ; 1 compleat saddle and 
bridle, and 1 sett Holster caps, and Housing of fine 

* Page 82. 



1757.] FASHIONS OF THE DAY. IT 9 

Blew cloth with a small edging of Embroidery round 
them, &c." And " if worked ruffles should be out of 
fashion," the London merchant " is desired to send such 
as are not." After this, comes "As much of the best 
superfine blew Cotton Velvet as will make a Coat, 
Waistcoat and Breeches, for a Tall Man, with a fine silk 
Button to suit it, and all other necessary trimmings and 
linings, together with garters for the Breeches." " Six 
pairs of the very neatest shoes, viz : 2 pr. double chan- 
nelled pumps ; two pr. turned ditto, and two pair 
stitched shoes ; to be made by one Didsbury, over Col. 
Beiler's last ; but to be a little wider over the instep ; " 
and afterwards, " 6 pr. gloves, 3 pairs of which to 
be proper for riding, and to have slit tops ; the whole 
larger than y e middle size." 

Of the same date we have a characteristic little 
letter about furniture at Mount Yernon, when the 
young bachelor was evidently thinking of a possible 
lady, or he could hardly have been so particular : 

" Sept. 1757. 

" To Mr. Richard Washington, London. 

" Dear Sir, — Be pleased over and above what I 
wrote for in a letter of the 13th of April, to send me 1 
doz. strong chairs, of about 15 shillings a piece — the bot- 
toms to be exactly made by the enclosed dimensions, 
and of three different colors, to suit the paper of three 
of the bed-chambers, also wrote for in my last. I must 
acquaint you, Sir, with the reason of this recpiest. I have 



180 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 

one dozen chairs that were made in the country ; neat, 
but too weak for common sitting. I therefore propose 
to take the bottoms out of those and put them into these 
now ordered, while the bottoms which you send will do 
for the former and furnish the chambers. For this reason 
the Workmen must be very exact, neither making the 
bottoms larger nor smaller than the dimensions, other- 
wise the change can't be made. Be kind enough to 
give directions that these chairs, equally with the 
others and the Tables, be carefully packed and stowed. 
Without this caution they are liable to infinite damage. 

" G. W." 

But in 1759, we come to some new matters : 

" A sammon-colored Tabby," (not cat but velvet,) 
" of y G . enclosed pattern, with Sattin flowers ; to be 
made in a sack and coat. 1 Cap, hkf. and Tucker and 
Ruffles, to be made of Brussells lace or Point, proper 
to be worn with the above negligee ; to cost £20. 

" 2 fine flowered lawn aprons. 

" 2 prs. women's white silk hose. 

" 6 pr. fine cotton do. 

" 4 pr. thread do., four threaded. 

" 1 pr. black and 1 pr. white sattin shoes of the 
smallest fives. 

" 4 pr. Callimanco do. 

" 1 fashionable Ilatt or Bonnet. 

" 6 pr. women's best kid gloves. 

" 6 pr. ditto mitts. 



1759.] CURIOUS QLT> SPELLING. 181 

" ^ doz. Knots and Breast-knots. 

" 1 doz. round silk laces," (stay-laces.) 

" 1 black mask," (which ladies of the time used to 
ride in.) 

" 1 doz. most fashionable cambric pocket hkfs. 

" 2 pr. neat small scissors. 

" Real Miniken pins and hair pins, and 6 lbs. per- 
fumed powder. 3 lbs. best Scotch snuff. 

" 3 lbs. best violette Strasburg," (snuff too.) 

" 1 ps. narrow white sattin ribbon, pearl edge." 

Besides curious evidence as to the fashions of the 
day, the voluminous orders of which we give but a 
specimen, show also what were the habits of Colonel 
and Mrs. "Washington and their family, at Mount Ver- 
non. Only people who visited a good deal and enter- 
tained in proportion, could need so great a variety of 
handsome things from England every year. 

In writing for the finery of the ladies of the family 
Washington evidently took the names of the different ar- 
ticles from viva voce communication and wrote them 
down as he could best guess at the spelling. As " 6 yds. 
Jackeynot muslin" — " 1 pr. Corded Dimothy," — (a farm- 
er being more familiar with Timothy than with Dimity) — 
" a garnet whoop," — meaning a hoop ring, or one set 
all round with the stones ; — " Pinns," — " Jarr Raisons," 
• — " Callimanca," — " Calamanca," — "Calamanco," — 
" Philigree shoe buckles."— (We think we see him with 
Mrs. Washington standing by, giving the items as he 
writes.) 



182 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 

" A puckered petticoat of a fashionable color. 

" A silver Tabby petticoat. 

" 2 handsome breast flowers. 

" Hair-pins — sugar candy. 

" 2 pr. small silver earrings for servants. 

" Miniken pins, Masks, bonnets, bibs, tuckers, 
aprons, pack-thread stays — a Sett of china for a little 
miss — a Book of newest and best Songs, set to music 
for the Spinnet." 

The word " fashionable " occurs many, perhaps 
hundreds of times in these invoices. And the impres- 
sion left on the reader's mind is that of a rather gay and 
dressy family, visiting and seeing company in the best 
style of the day, and unwilling to be behindhand in 
any thing that related to personal appearance or domestic 
accommodation. It is because these seeming trifles do 
assist in forming an estimate of Washington's condi- 
tion, character and tastes at that period, that I have 
thought it worth while to cite these specimens of the 
annual invoice. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Quiet life — Training for the future — Country habits — Hunting and surveying — 
Boundless hospitality — Dancing school — Sick neighbors — Small-pox among the 
negroes — The bread-and-butter ball — Exact calculations. 

Washington was now to enjoy a long season of repose 
in private life, in the calm prosperity of a happy mar- 
riage, in the rural sports and labors that he loved, and 
in the exercise of all the duties of master, neighbor 
and citizen. This long, uneventful period will afford 
us leisure to be a little discursive and desultory, touch- 
ing here and there upon what may seem characteristic 
or interesting, without much regard to chronology or 
consistency of narrative. 

It is often asked, How did Washington occupy 
himself, during the fifteen years of almost seclusion 
which followed his marriage and his retirement from 
the army ? 

Perhaps an extract from his note-book — the diary 
of one month's doings, recorded by his own hand — will 
give as concise and significant an answer to this ques- 
tion as any that could be devised. 



184 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. L l 770. 

DIARY. 

" Jan. 1, 1770. At home alone. 

" 2. At home all day. Mr. Peake dined here. 

"3. At home all day, alone. 

" 4. Went a hunting with John Custis and Lund 
Washington. Started a deer, and then a fox, but got 
neither. 

"5. Went to Muddy Hole and Dogue Run. Car- 
ried the dogs with me, hut found nothing. Mr. War- 
ner Washington and Mr. Thurston came in the evening. 

" 6. The two Col. Fairfaxes dined here, and Mr. R. 
Alexander and the two gentlemen that came the day 
before. The Belvoir family (Fairfaxes) returned after 
dinner. 

" 7. Mr. Washington and Mr. Thurston went to 
Belvoir. 

" 8. Went a hunting with Mr. Alexander, J. Cus- 
tis and Lund Washington. Killed a fox, (a dog one,) 
after three hours' chase. 

" Mr. Alexander went away, and Mr. Thurston came 
in the afternoon. 

" 9. Went a ducking, but got nothing, the creek 
and rivers being froze. Robert Adam dined here and 
returned. 

"10. Mr. Washington and Mr. Thurston set off 
home. I went hunting on the Neck, and visited the 
plantation there, and killed a fox afier treeing it 3 
times, and chasing it about 3 hours. 



1770.] MOKE JOURNALS FOX-HUNTING. 185 

" 11. At home all clay alone. 

" 12. Ditto, ditto. 

" 13. Dined at Belvoir with Mrs. Washington and 
Mr. and Miss Custis, and returned afterwards. 

" 14. At home all day alone. 

" 15. Went up to Alexandria, expecting court, but 
there was none. 

" 1G. Kid to the Mill, Dogue Eun and Muddy Hole. 

" 17. At home all day alone. 

" 18. Went to the plantation in the JSTeck. 

" 19. At home all day alone. 

" 20. Went a hunting with Jackey Custis, and 
catched a fox, after three hours' chase. Found it in the 
creek. 

"21. At home all day alone. 

" 22. Eid to Posey's barn and the Mill. 

" 23. Went a hunting after breakfast, and found a 
fox at Muddy Hole and killed her, after a chase of bet- 
ter than two hours, and after treeing her twice, the last 
of which times she fell dead out of the tree, after being 
there several minutes apparently well. Mr. Temple 
and Mr. Eobert Adam dined here. 

" 21. At home all day alone. 

" 25. Ditto, ditto. 

" 26. Ditto, ditto. 

" 27. Went a hunting, and after tracking a fox a 
good while, the dogs raised a deer and ran out of the 
Neck with it, and did not, some of them at least, come 
home till the next day. 



186 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [ 177 ° 

" 28. At home all da}', and in the afternoon Mr. 
Temple came here. 

" 29. Dined at Belvoir with J. P. Custis, and re- 
turned in the afternoon. 

" 30. Went a hunting, and having found a deer, it 
ran to the head of the Neck, before we could stop the 
dogs. 

" Mr. Peake dined here. 

" 31. At home all alone." 

So ends the diary of one winter month. 

Other entries run thus : — 

" Jan. 1. Fox hunting in my own Neck, with Mr. 
.Robert Alexander and Mr. Colvill — catched nothing. 
Captain Posey with us." 

This occupation fills seven of the days of the same 
month and nine in February, all of which are given an 
account of, with a list of the company, and often some 
other details, as how particular dogs acquitted them- 
selves. 

" Jan. 23. Directed paths to be cut for fox hunting." 

" Jan. 24. Surveyed some lines of my Mount Vernon 
tract of land." 

This seems to have been kept up faithfully, as it is 
frequently met with, as for instance on the 11th, which 
was passed " running some lines between me and Mr. 
William Triplet ; " and on the 21st, " Surveyed the wa- 
ter courses of my Mount Vernon tract of land — taking 
advantage of the ice ; " and on Feb. 2'6, " Laid off a 



1770.] OPEN HOUSE AT MT. VERNON. 187 

road from Mount Vernon to the lain by Mr. Marley's," 
which no doubt is there to this day. 

' Jan. 1. Kid to Muddy Hole, Dogue Run and Mill 
plantation." 

These names are repeated a thousand times in the 
journals, and will be, one of these days, restored to their 
localities and made classic. So goes on the journal 
through the month, "Nulla dies sine linea," even if it 
be only to say " At home alone," or, as is more com- 
mon, to give a list of visitors, of which there is no 
lack. 

" Jackey Custis returned to Mr. Boucher's to school. 
In the evening Sally Carlisle and Betsey Dalton came 
here. 

" Went up to court ; returned in the evening, and 
found my brothers, Sam. and John, with the latter's 
wife and daughter ; Mr. Lawrence Washington and 
daughter, and the Rev. Mr. Smith here. At home all 
day with the above company." 

Five days afterwards comes the entry, somewhat 
piteous, we fancy, 

" My brothers, and the company that came with 
them, still here. 

" April 18. Fatcy Custis and Milly Posey went to 
Colonel Mason's to the dancing school." 

A neighbor being ill, we find frequent entries. — 
" Went to see Mr. Peake." " Mrs. Washington and I 
went to see Mr. Peake." " Rid to Mr. Peake's with 
Mrs. Washington," and so on every day or two. The 



188 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 

amount as well as frequency of visitors at Mount Ver- 
non is appalling. 

April 9th, when there are already four or live guests 
staying, we read : — 

" Mr. Christian danced here, who, besides his schol- 
ars and those already mentioned to be here, Mr. Peake 
and niece, Mr. Massey, Mrs. Piper and Mr. Adams, 
dined here." 

The next day : — 

" 10. Mr. Christian and some of his scholars went 
away this afternoon. 

" 11. The rest of the scholars went away after 
breakfast." 

The dancing school goes on — and we generally find 
" Mr. Christian and his scholars " staying two or three 
days. Then they all go, " except Peggy Massey," and 
ten days afterwards we find — 

" At home all day alone, except Miss Massey, who 
is still here, and Mr. Temple, who came just after din- 
ner, and went away just after dinner was got for him. 

" July 3*0, 1770. After our early dinner, (which Mr. 
Peake took with us,) we set off for Fredericksburg, 
that is, Mrs. Washington, P. Custis and myself, and 
reached Mr. Lawson's to tea. 

" 31. Got to my mother's to dinner, and staid there 
all night. 

" Aug. 1. Dined at my mother's, went over to 
Fredericksburg, and returned in the evening back 
again." 



1770.] HOSPITALITY AND FRIENDSHIP. 189 

(The following ten days divided between family vis- 
its and public business.) 

" Sept. 3. Went in the evening a fishing with my 
brothers Sam. and Charles. 

"Dec. 30. My miller and his wife and Mr. Bell 
dined here." 

One thing is certain — that the wise and good man 
did not seclude himself, or seek safety for his virtue or 
dignity in avoiding close and frequent contact with his 
fellow-creatures. He felt human life to be the noblest 
of all schools, and that we may learn something of ev- 
ery body, whether great or humble. His fortune, con- 
nections, and acknowledged merit, gave him access to 
the best society of the day, and one part of the busi- 
ness of his life was, then and always, conversation, with 
men of eminence, with men of affairs, with elegant and 
thoughtful women, and with intelligent persons of all 
classes. 

To cultivate society was quite as prominent an ob- 
ject with him, as to attend to his plantation or manage 
his lands. One and the other were things to be done, 
and he did them as well as he could. 

In those early days, when to live at Mount Yernon, 
dispensing hospitality and doing all the service he was 
able to his friends and the public, was his highest aim, 
we neither know nor see any thing of the reserve 
which marked him later in life. He partook of what- 
ever amusement offered, and if, from what we know of 
his character as a whole, we may suspect that he did 



190 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 

not particularly enjoy the gayeties in which he shared, 
there is certainly nothing in his diaries or letters to jus- 
tify the idea. He was, with all his prudence, a partic- 
ularly natural person, of a true simplicity of character, 
theorizing little about himself or those around him, 
but going quietly through whatever was the business 
of the hour, be it ball or funeral, county meeting or 
legislative session. He attends his wife through mea- 
sles, and helps her nurse 4 ' poor little Patsy Custis," 
her only daughter, through years of illness ; and when 
the small-pox breaks out among his negroes we find — 

" May 4. Warm and fine. Set out for Frederic to 
see my negroes that lay ill of the small-pox. Took 
church in my way to Coleman's, where I arrived about 
sun-setting. 

" 5. Reached Mr. Stephenson's in Frederic, about 
four o'clock, just time enough to see Richard Mounts 
interred. Here I was informed that Harry and Kit, 
the two first of my negroes that took the small-pox, 
were dead, and Roger and Phillis, the only two down 
with it, were recovering. Lodged at Mr. Stephen- 
son's. 

" 7. After taking the doctor's directions in regard 
to my people, 1 set out for my quarters, and got there 
about twelve o'clock, time enough to go over there and 
find every thing in the utmost confusion, disorder, and 
backwardness, my overseer lying upon his back with a 
broken leg, and not half a crop, especially of corn- 
ground, prepared. Engaged Valentine Crawford to go 



1770.] MORE COUNTRY BUSINESS. 191 

in pursuit of a nurse, to be ready in case more of my 
people should be seized with the same disorder. 

" 8. Got blankets and every other requisite from 
"Winchester, and settled things upon the best footing I 
could to prevent the small-pox from spreading, and in 
case of its spreading, for the care of the negroes ; Mr. 
Crawford agreeing, in case any more of the people at 
the lower quarter should take it, to remove them home 
to his house, and if any of those at the upper quarter 
should get it, to have them removed into my room, and 
the nurse sent for." 

In another place we come to a new business. 

" Bottled thirty-five dozen of cider." — " Fitted a 
two-eyed plough, instead of a duck-bill plough, and 
with much difficulty made my chariot wheel-horses 
plough. Put the pole-end horses into the plough in 
the morning ; and put in the postilion and hind-horse 
in the afternoon, but the ground being well swarded 
over, and very heavy ploughing, I repented putting 
them in at all, for fear it should give them a habit of 
stopping in the chariot." " Peter (my smith), and I, 
after several efforts to make a plough after a new 
model, partly of my own contriving, were fain to give 
it over, at least for the present." A week later we find, 
" Spent the greater part of the day in making a new 
plough, of my own invention." 

" Went to a ball at Alexandria, where music and 
dancing were the chief entertainment ; however, in a 
convenient room detached for the purpose abounded 



192 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [!770 

great plenty of bread and butter, some biscuits, with 
tea and coffee, which the drinkers of could not distin- 
guish from hot water sweetened. Be it remembered 
that pocket-handkerchiefs served the purposes of table- 
cloths and napkins, and that no apologies were made 
for either. I shall therefore distinguish this ball by the 
style and title of the bread-and-butter ball. The pro- 
prietors of this ball were Messrs. .Carlyle, Laurie and 
Robert "Wilson ; but the Doctor, not getting it con- 
ducted agreeably to his own taste, would claim no share 
of the merit of it." 

In making these extracts, no attempt at exact chro- 
nology has been made, the object being merely to show 
what were "Washington's home habits. They varied but 
little until the commencement of the Revolution. 

It requires no great enthusiasm or imagination to 
see in this unstudied picture a man of the most decided 
domestic tastes, the most neighborly habits, and the 
most generous hospitality. Sympathy with his kind 
breathes from every page of the journals he kept for so 
many years. No idea of separating himself or resting 
retired in fancied superiority, can be detected any 
where. Dignity never interferes with service or atten- 
tion to the humblest. It is evident that the reputation 
which Washington had acquired in the wars never cast 
its shadow between him and his neighbors. They never 
thought of it, probably, and we should judge, by his de- 
votion to farming affairs, that he too had forgotten the 
glow of military ardor which inspired his efforts and 



1770.] INTEREST IN RURAL LIFE. 193 

nerved him for the sacrifice of those trying days. To 
do well what he did at all was so invariably his rule, 
that even the difficulties of Virginia farming could not 
deter him from incessant efforts at improvement ; and 
his failures only show how little aid he could have 
drawn from the experiments or the sympathetic action 
of his neighbors. So far as we can discover, he was al- 
most alone in his attempts at scientific agriculture ; and 
though he was always giving aid and encouragement 
to the planters about him, no one, apparently, thought 
it necessary to join him in experiments or to contribute 
information gleaned from distant sources. We judge 
thus, because every new idea for the improvement 
of farming is carefully noted, and hardly one is to 
be found in the journals. "Washington made a point 
of seeking intelligence from abroad, and, to the last 
day of his life, in spite of all cares of war and state, 
his interest in the subject never flagged. To make 
the earth productive, to see it bring forth " grass and 
herb after his kind," and " every tree that is pleasant 
to the sight and good for food," was one of the great 
objects of his life, one that was as clear to him while he 
was head of the new empire, as before he was called 
from his beloved shades, and from the business to which 
he had meant to devote his life, to encounter toil and 
danger in the wider and grander form of service which 
his country required. 

Rural life, in its minutest details, was certainly his 
chosen object of interest. The journals show that no 



194 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1760. 

operation on the farm, no improvements in its roads and 
fences, no care of its stock, no calculation of its profits 
was beneath his notice. There is a curious instance of 
this in the diary of February, 1760. " 5th, Yisited my 
plantations, and found, to my great surprise, Stephens 
constant at work. Grig and Lucy nothing better. 
Passing by my carpenters, that were hewing, I found 
that four of them, viz., George, Tom, Mike, and young 
Billy, had only hewed one hundred and twenty feet 
yesterday from ten o'clock. Sat down, therefore, and 
observed Tom and Mike, in a less space than thirty 
minutes, clear the bushes from about a poplar stock, 
line it ten feet long, and hew each his side twelve inches 
deep. Then letting them proceed their own way, they 
spent twenty-five minutes more in getting the cross-cut 
saw, standing to consider what to do, sawing the stock 
off in two places, putting it on the blocks for hewing it 
square, and lining it. From this time till they had 
finished the stock entirely, required twenty minutes 
more ; so that in the space of one hour and a quarter, 
they each of them, from the stump, finished twenty feet 
of hewing ; from hence it appears very clear, that, al- 
lowing that they work only from sun to sun, and re- 
quire two hours at breakfast, they ought to yield each 
his one hundred and twenty-five feet, while the days are 
at their present length, and more in proportion as they 
increase. While this was doing, George and Billy 
sawed thirty feet of plank, so that it appears, that 
making the same allowance as before (but not for the 



1760.] MILL-DAM WASHED AWAY. 195 

time required in piling the stock), they ought to saw 
one hundred and eighty feet of plank. It is to be ob- 
served, that this hewing and sawing likewise were of 
poplar ; what may be the difference, therefore, between 
the working of this wood and other, some future ob- 
servations must make known." And again : — 

" April 4th. — Apprehending the herrings were come, 
hauled the seine, but caught only a few of them, though 
a good many of other sorts offish." 

" 8th. — Seven o'clock, a messenger came to inform 
me that my mill was in great clanger of being destroyed. 
I immediately hurried off all hands with shovels, &c, 
to its assistance, and got there myself just time enough 
to give it a reprieve for this time, by wheeling gravel 
into the place which the water had washed. While I 
was there a very heavy thunder-shower came on, which 
lasted upwards of an hour. I tried what time the mill 
required to grind a bushel of corn, and to my surprise 
found it was within five minutes of an hour. Old 
Anthony attributed this to the low head of water, but 
whether it was so or not I cannot say. The works are 
all decayed, and out of order, which I rather take to be 
the cause. This bushel of corn, when ground, measured 
near a peck more of meal." 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

Washington a domestic man — Attention to his stcp-ehiklren — Lists for England — 
Mrs. Washington a doting mother — Washington strict but not severe — Generally 
beloved — Always doing service — Death of Miss Custis and Washington's emotion 
— Difficulties of Virginia housekeeping and farming — Two temperance sermons. 

It is quite amusing to contrast the character of Wash- 
ington, as displayed in his private journals, with the 
stony figure sometimes considered to represent him fitly. 
A more active and genial master of a family, than he 
appears at home, cannot be found, or one more inter- 
ested in the smallest details of domestic life ; taking upon 
himself all kinds of vexatious business for other peo- 
ple, and sparing no pains, and avoiding no application, 
when aid was to be afforded, difficulties settled, or evil 
or waste prevented. "When his friends desired articles 
from England, whence came every thing handsome 
and " genteel " in those days, this man, whom we have 
been used to think fitted only for a pedestal, was the 
medium of communication, and enters into all the ne- 
cessary minutiae with a patience evidently habitual. 
"We have had a small specimen of how he makes out 
lists for the use of his own family, and all the invoices 



1761.] WHAT LITTLE PEOPLE USED TO WANT. 197 

together show an enormous amount or number of ar- 
ticles required. Perhaps it is only because he was 
obliged to send at stated intervals, twice a year or so, 
for things we can buy every day, that the list seems so 
extravagant. Certain it is that the aggregate of what 
is needed for a wealthy family never seemed so large 
or the list so varied. 

We see something of the fashions in the following 
double list, dated Oct. 1761, copied verbatim et litera- 
tim from the Washington MS., where it is signed with 
his name, as is almost every memorandum or list of the 
kind in the whole mass of papers. Probably one 
thousand " autographs," technically so called, might be 
found there. 

October — , 1761. 

" Invoice of sundry" 1 s to be shipped by Robert Cary, 
Esq. & Co., for the use of Master John, and Miss 
Patcy Custis — each to be charged to their own ac- 
counts, but both consigned to George Washington, 
Potomack Piver, <&c. 

"FOR MASTER CUSTIS, 8 YEARS OLD: 

" 1 handsome suit of winter cloaths. 

" A suit of summer Ditto, very light. 

" 2 Pieces Nankeens with trimmings. 

" 1 silver laced Hatt. 

" 6 pair fine Cotton Stockings 

" 4 pair fine Worsted Ditto 






198 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. L 1 ^! 

" 4 pair strong Shoes 

" 4 pair neat Pumps 

" 1 pair gloves 

" 2 hair-bags 

" 1 piece Ribbon for Ditto 

" 1 pr. Silver Shoe and knee buckles. 

" 1 pair Sleeve buttons 

" A small Bible neatly bound in Turkey, and John 
Parke Custis wrote in gilt letters on the inside of the 
cover. 

" A neat, small Prayer Book bound as above, with 
John Parke Custis as above. 

" 1 Piece of Irish linen at Is. 

" 3 pre. shoes for a boy 14 y'rs. old. 

" 3 p'r. coarse stockings for Do. 

" 2 p'r. Woman's strong shoes size 8. 

" 2 p'r Stockings for Do. 

" 50 Ells Oznabrigs 

" A suit of Livery Cloaths for the above boy of 14. 
A hat for Do. 

" Note. — Let the Livery be suited to the arms of 
the Custis family. 

" MISS CUSTIS, 6 YEARS OLD. 

" A Coat made of fashionable Silk. 

" A fashionable Cap or Fillet with bib apron. 

" Ruffles and Tucker — to be laced. 

" 4 fashionable dresses to be made of Long Lawn. 



1761.] FINERY FOR SIX YEARS OLD. 199 

" 2 fine cambric frocks. 

" A sattin Capuchin hat and neckatees. 

" A Persian quilted Coat. 

" 1 p'r. pack-thread Stays. 

" 4 p'r. Callimanco Shoes, 6 p'r. leather ditto and 

" 2 p'r. Sattin Do. with flat ties. 

" 6 p'r. fine Cotton Stockings. 4 p'r. White Wors'd 
Do. 

" 12 pr. Mitts. 6 p'r. Gloves— white kid. 

" 1 pr. Silver Shoe Buckles. 

" 1 pr. neat Sleeve Buttons. 

" 6 handsome Egrets different sorts. 

" 6 y'ds. Ribbon Do. 1 pr. little scissors. 

" 3 M* large pins, 3 M short whites. 

" 3 M Minikens 

" 1 Fashionable dressed Doll, to cost a guinea ; 1 Do. 
at 5s. 

" A Box Gingerbread. Toys & Sug'r Images and 
Comfits. 

" A neat, small Bible, bound in Turkey and Martha 
Parke Custis wrote on the inside in gilt letters. 

" A small Prayer Book neat and in the same man- 
ner. 

" 12 y'ds. coarse green Callimanco. 

" The above things to be put into a Strong Trunk — 
separate from J. P. Custis's, whose will likewise be put 
into a Trunk, each having their names. 

" 1 very good Spinet — to be made by Mr. Plinius, 

* M for a thousand. 



200 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1761. 

Harpsichord maker, in South Audley street, Grosvenor 
square. 

" Note. — It is beg'd as a favor that Mr. Cary would 
bespeak this instrument as for himself or a friend, and 
not let it be known y 4 it is intended for exportation. 

" Send a good assortment of spare strings to it. 

" Books according to the enclosed List — to be 
charged equally to both John Parke Custis and Martha 
Parke Custis — likewise one Rheam of writing paper. 

" G°. Washington. 

" October 12th, 1761." 

The young Custises were heirs to a large fortune, 
and were brought up accordingly. 

Mrs. Washington was very indulgent to them ; and 
her husband having no family of his own, fully adopted 
the children of his wife, and acted the part of guardian, 
as he did every thing else, with scrupulous fidelity. 
He occasionally reminds his business correspondent, 
when writing for articles for the children, that their 
accounts must be accurately and separately kept, "for," 
says he, " I must give in my accounts to the General 
Court every year." His diary shows how attentive and 
kind he was to them ; and their unbounded reverence 
and that of their children for him, gives evidence of his 
faithfulness. Mr. G. W. P. Custis, son of the Master 
Jacky, mentioned in these early records, and adopted 
son of Washington, says, " he had tears for the aberra- 
tions of his wards." His kindly interest in them kept 



1761.] DANGER OF SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE. 201 

pace with their years, and was never interrupted by 
any stress of public affaire. 

Mrs. "Washington was a doting mother, and in no 
instance can an expression of impatience or want of 
sympathy on the part of "Washington be detected, 
though he had a great deal of care and trouble in the 
education and settling of the children. That they feared 
him is very certain, yet they feared only his displea- 
sure, not his unkindness. How could such a judge not 
be feared, by any heart of ordinary sensibility ? His 
strictness with regard to others was so backed by a still 
greater strictness in reference to himself, that there was 
no appeal, no loophole for retreat, no turning upon 
him his own weapons, even in thought. 

He says, in a letter about the conduct of his over- 
seers, speaking of a bad example having been set — 
" "Whenever this is the case, it is not easy for a man to 
throw the first stone, for fear of having it returned to 
him ; " and throughout his whole life, which was neces- 
sarily one of command, of advice, of judgment, of ex- 
amination and reproof, he bore in mind this pregnant 
truth, and this made every word of his fly like an ar- 
row to the heart of wrong-doers — a quality by no 
means calculated to make him immediately popular, 
although it has been said again and again, on the best 
authority, that " there was perhaps never any man so 
much beloved." His personal influence was unbound- 
ed, and such is never the result of qualities that inspire 
chiefly fear ; for there is something too noble in human 
9* 



202 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [176L 

nature to yield its hearty homage to what merely in- 
timidates. " Perfect love casteth out fear ; " those 
who thoroughly understood and appreciated "Washing- 
ton loved him intensely, and he warmly and faithfully 
reciprocated affection. He had no time for great de- 
monstrations, no taste for loud or empty professions ; but 
the root of the matter was alive and upspringing in the 
depths of his nature, ready to appear at the proper sea- 
son. " Service " was the motto of his life ;' his words 
were no fruitless flowers of rhetoric, but the blossoms 
of his deeds ; and the ear that waited for only flattery 
or glozing commendation from him, was sure to be dis- 
appointed. The tireless benefactor, — the new Prome- 
theus, would have been ill employed in 

Unfruitful labor and light-thoughted folly, 

but his heart was tenderly alive to the real wants and 
feelings of those whom he served. 

An ever-welling impulse towards good deeds cannot 
owe its origin to reason, though reason must guide 
and control the stream, lest it run to waste, or carry 
with it an unprofitable softness. 

It may be mentioned here that the long, severe and 
fatal illness of Mrs. Washington's daughter, was the 
darkest cloud that overspread Mount Yernon for many 
years of quiet time. The feeble child was the darling 
of her mother; and her prolonged suffering made large 
drafts, not only upon the tender mother, but upon tho 
kind step-father ; and when at length she died, Wash- 



1761.] Washington's tenderness of heart. 203 

ington, who was just setting out upon a long journey 
of exploration, preparatory to the purchase of some 
tracts of land at the West, gave up the expedition, and 
staid at home to comfort and cheer his wife under her 
great affliction. Mrs. Lewis, granddaughter of Mrs. 
"Washington, says that on the occasion of this young 
lady's death, Washington exhibited a passionate excess 
of feeling — falling on his knees at the bedside, and pray- 
ing aloud and with tears, that she might be spared, un- 
conscious that even as he spoke, life had departed. 
We find, by his diary after that time, that he took Mrs. 
Washington out every day, driving about the neigh- 
borhood, and calling on intimate friends, endeavoring 
by exercise in the open air, and by the society of those 
she loved, to turn her thoughts from the too constant 
contemplation of her loss. She was a woman of strong 
affections, very quiet and retiring in her habits, and 
devoted to her family ; and Washington's sympathy was 
never wanting when she suffered from loss or separa- 
tion. 

The constant flow of company to Mount Yernon, 
where Washington may be said almost to have kept 
open house for many years, obliged Mrs. Washington 
to attend very closely to her domestic duties ; for a Vir- 
ginia housekeeper finds it no easy matter to provide a 
company dinner every day, with no market at hand, 
and only slaves to depend on. One little expression of 
the general's speaks volumes as to that matter : — 
" Would any person believe," he says, " that with a 



204 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1761. 

hundred and one cows, actually reported at a late enu- 
meration of the cattle, I should still be obliged to buy 
butter for my family ? " 

Judging of other supplies by this specimen, we 
must think Mrs. Washington almost as good a general 
as her husband, if she managed daily to entertain peo- 
ple of eminence from all parts of the country, as well 
as an endless round of country neighbors ; making every 
body welcome, and providing in such style as was be- 
coming in a large and elegant establishment. The 
hunt always ended in a dinner, sometimes at Belvoir, 
the seat of Mr. Fairfax, a little further down the river, 
but more generally at Mount Vernon, and as the com- 
pany remained for the night, the next day's weather 
would sometimes keep them from going home. It is 
on one of these occasions that we find in the Diary — 

" At home all day at cards — it snowing." In those 
days cards had not yet been proscribed, as they are in 
ours. Washington seems to have played occasionally, 
but was evidently quite indifferent about it ; he proba- 
bly resorted to a game as the easiest way of entertain- 
ing company, shut up in a lonely country-house through 
an impracticable storm. Mr. Custis says he played 
only whist, and in later and more anxious times dis- 
carded even that. 

But need we apologize for this amusement, which 
though disapproved in our day, was universally al- 
lowed in his time by the society in which he lived ? 
Washington's habits require no apologies or conceal- 



1761.] QUITE CLEAR ABOUT THE VIRTUES. 205 

merits. He is not amenable in these matters to stand- 
ards set up since his day. The spirit of his life is one 
which the most rigid may imitate with advantage. 
His self-sacrifice, his temperance, his consideration for 
others, his rational and practical views of duty, make 
up a whole that fears no picking at, however zealous. 
He would have been slow to believe, probably, that the 
day would ever come when good people could be found 
who would condemn dancing, yet refuse to condemn 
slavery; who would consider card-playing a sin, yet 
utter no fulminations against what Washington himself, 
born and bred in the midst of it, calls " a wicked, 
cruel and unnatural trade." His just and manly mind 
weighed things at their real and practical value, and 
had little regard for artificial or arbitrary standards. 

We find him ever promoting the virtues, but not 
often discussing them ; never disputing as to which was 
virtue and which was not. The virtues were to him no 
shadows, changing with the times ; but all great, strong, 
well-defined realities, asking nobody's patronage, but 
commanding every body's allegiance. If you had at- 
tacked as wrong any practice of his, no persuasion or 
pathetic remonstrance would have been required. He 
would have said, in his simple, direct way, " Show me 
that it is injurious and I will banish it for ever." But 
unless you convinced him, you would in vain have 
driven him into conformity by bugbears of unpopular- 
ity or odium. 

The " Temperance cause," as such, had never been 



206 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1761. 

heard of, in his day, and he, like all the world, thought 
the use of wine and other liquors as proper and neces- 
sary as that of milk or bread. He always used them, 
whether to his benefit or injury it is difficult to say, but 
probably without ever speculating on the subject. 
Perhaps the green tea he was so fond of, and which 
he drank at breakfast and in the evening, may have 
done him more harm than the " two or three glasses of 
good wine " that we know he took after dinner, or the 
occasional stronger potations his minutely kept accounts 
tell us that he used, on his journeys and other occasions. 

But there are two papers of his, touching tin's matter 
of intemperance, that are both characteristic and amus- 
ing ; one an agreement with a drunken gardener, the 
satirical gravity of which is irresistible. It is a tem- 
perance sermon of the most piquant kind : 

" Articles of Agreement made this twelfth day of 
April, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven, by and between George Washington, 
Esq., of the Parish of Truro, in the County of Fairfax, 
State of Virginia, on the one part, and Philip Bater, 
Gardener, on the other. Witness, that the said Philip 
Bater, for and in consideration of the covenants herein 
hereafter mentioned, doth promise and agree to serve 
the said George "Washington for the term of one year, 
as a Gardener, and that he will, (luring said time, con- 
duct himself soberly, diligently and honestly — that he 
will faithfully and industriously perform all and every 
part of his duty as a Gardener, to the best of kis know- 



1761 •] AMUSING AGREEMENT. 207 

ledge and abilities, and that lie will not, at any time 
suffer himself to be disguised with liquor, except on the 
times hereafter mentioned. 

"In consideration of these things being well and 
truly performed on the part of the said Philip Bater, 
the said George Washington doth agree to allow him 
(the said Philip) the same kind and quantity of pro- 
visions as he has heretofore had ; and likewise, an- 
nually, a decent suit of clothes, befitting a man in his 
station ; to consist of a coat, vest and breeches ; — a 
working jacket, and breeches of home-spun, besides; 
two white shirts ; — 'three check do ; — two linnen pocket- 
handkerchiefs, two pair linnen overalls ; — as many pair 
of shoes as are actually necessary for him ; — four Dol- 
lars at Christmas, with which he may be drunk four 
days and four nights ; two Dollars at Easter to effect 
the same purpose ; two Dollars at Whitsuntide, to be 
drunk two days ; — a dram in the morning and a drink 
of Grog at Dinner at noon. 

" For the true and faithful performance of all and 
each of these things, the parties have hereunto set their 
hands, this twenty-third day of April, Anno Domini, 
1787. " + Philip Bater, his mark. 

" George Washington. 
Witness, 

" George A. Washington. 

" Tobias Lear." 

The two young men witnesses must have laughed 



208 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1761. 

(very quietly and privately, though,) at the execution 
of this curious document. 

The other is more like an exhortation of the present 
day. It will he observed that Washington accords 
with the Total Abstinents in calling strong drink a 
poison. 

(TO AN OVERSEER.) 

" I shall not close this letter without exhorting you 
to refrain from spirituous liquors ; they will prove your 
ruin if you do not. Consider how little a drunken man 
differs from a beast ; the latter is not endowed with 
reason, the former deprives himself of it ; and when 
that is the case, acts like a brute, annoying and dis- 
turbing every one around him ; nor is this all, nor, as it 
respects himself, the worst of it. By degrees it renders 
a person feeble, and not only unable to serve others 
but to help himself; and being an act of his own, he 
falls from a state of usefulness into contempt, and at 
length suffers, if not perishes, in penury and want. 

" Don't let this be your case. Shew yourself more 
of a man and a Christian than to yield to so intolerable 
a vice, which cannot, I am certain, (to the greatest lover 
of liquor,) give more pleasure to sip in the poison, (for 
it is no better,) than the consequence of it in bad be- 
havior at the moment, and the more serious evils pro- 
duced by it afterwards, must give pain. 

" I am your Friend, 

" Geokge "Washington." 



■I '7^1 "I 

HATRED OF TOBACCO. 209 

It is certain that Washington hated excess of every 
kind. Mr. Custis says that so far as personal habits 
went, tobacco was an abomination to him, which seems 
remarkable when we consider that he raised and dealt 
m it for so many years. His private dislike of it may 
have arisen from the fact that he was particularly neat 
We have some little reason to suspect that Mrs Wash- 
ington took snuff, as it was the fashion for ladies to do 
m those days. In one of the orders sent to England, in 
September, 1759, occur the following items: 
" 3 lbs. best Scotch snuff. 

"3 lbs. best violette Strasburg," ( a fashionable 
snuff.) 

. Perha P 8 > however, this was only for the use of 
visitors, whose boxes might happen to be empty during 
some of those long snow-storms that throw people upon 
then- vices. We see, in the orders sent to England in 
early times, that Washington made minute as well as 
ample preparation for the accommodation of guests 
Next to agricultural improvements, company seems to 
have been the leading idea of his early domestic life 



CHAPTER XX. 

Public affairs not forgotten— Independent companies — Organized resistance — Fairfax 
Resolves — Economy and self-denial — Non-importation act — Boston Port Bill — 
Public fast — Patrick Henry "s opinion of "Washington. 

Closely as Washington seemed to be occupied in 
rural affairs, and in the duties of a most extensive hos- 
pitality at Mount Vernon, during the period immedi- 
ately preceding the final outbreak of the Revolutionary 
spirit, he had in no degree excused himself from the 
most intimate knowledge of public affairs, or from 
those civil duties which carried him often from his 
home to the Virginian seat of government, where lie 
met and conversed with the best-informed men in the 
State, and had liis own sober and reasoning patriotism 
warmed and inspired, by the noble sentiments of a cir- 
cle of statesmen and planters of whom the Old Domin- 
ion had, in that day, so much reason to be proud. 
Patrick Henry, Lee, Wythe, Randolph, George Mason, 
the Fairfaxes, all the prominent men on both sides, 
were his constant companions, at home and abroad ; and 
from the conflict of their views, all well-informed, hon- 
orable and experienced men as they were, he was able 



■J BEGINNINGS OF TKOUBLE. 211 

to mature opinions which he never, throughout his 
whole career, saw reason to change. Thus fitted for the 
approaching crisis, it is not to be wondered at that 
Washington was among the earliest to notice and draw 
conclusions from the encroachments of Great Britain on 
American liberty. He might easily have excused him- 
self, on the ground of past services and impaired health ; 
for he had gone through severe duties in the British 
cause, and his health had never been fully re-established 
even by the robust, active, open-air life that it was his 
pleasure to lead. He continued subject to intermittent^ 
as well as to difficulties of the throat and lungs, when- 
ever he took cold or over-exerted himself. But he had 
no thought of self where public duty was concerned, 
and we find him considered by all the Independent 
companies of Virginia, as their destined commander. 
Mr. Smyth, very angry, but still honest enough, if we 
may judge by internal evidence, says—" It was at Alex- 
andria that George Washington first stepped forth as 
the public patron and leader of sedition and revolt, 
having subscribed fifty pounds to these purposes when 
others subcribed only five, and having accepted the* 
command of the first company of armed associates 
against the British government. " 

We have no doubt this is all very true, for we know 
that Washington aided the Independent companies in 
every way in his power. One of these companies 
prayed him to take command of them, as field-officer, 
and that he would « be pleased to direct the fashion of 



212 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1772. 

their uniform ; " they also acquainted him with the 
motto of their company, atjt libek, aut nuixus, which 
was to appear on their colors. He never refused these 
requests. 

At one time before the commencement of general 
hostilities, he came very near being called into active 
service as commander of several of these companies, 
who put themselves under arms and reported them- 
selves in readiness to march, with the object of reclaim- 
ing and rescuing a quantity of powder which Governor 
Dinwiddie had caused to be removed from the maga- 
zine at Williamsburg, and placed on board a ship-of-war 
in the river. More than seven hundred men, well 
armed, had collected in Fredricksburg, but the gover- 
nor wisely promised that the affair should be arranged 
to the satisfaction of the people. 

This little flurry concluded the connection of Wash- 
ington with these patriotic, independent companies ; 
for he soon after went to the Continental Congress, and 
from there to Cambridge as commander-in-chief, where 
his greater public duties absorbed, for a long while, the 
attention he had been accustomed to give to those of 
his own State and neighborhood. 

But to return, for the present, to Virginia doings, 
and the preparations for organized resistance. Some 
of these are very interesting ; in their very nature sig- 
nificant of the kind of struggle that was to follow, just 
as the full, round and weighty grain of seed- wheat fore- 
tells the quality and abundance of the harvest it is to 



1773.] LIBERTY STAMP ACT. 213 

bring. Those who were preparing the mighty change 
were patriots and men of honor ; their reasons for act- 
ing were honest and sensible ; their grievances were 
real arid their hearts determined. The public mind was 
warm and ready for the good seed, and the sunshine of 
divine favor waiting to be gracious to it. 

The people in general had never thought much 
about Liberty, as a possession. It was their birthright, 
and they expected it of course. They enjoyed it as we 
breathe the air and drink the water, without reflecting 
upon its value. It was only when they began to find 
it encroached upon, that they became aware how pre- 
cious it was. Good and loyal subjects they had always 
been ; proud of their loyalty and delighting to show it 
on all occasions ; fighting the king's battles and drinking 
his health, without misgiving or demur, and calling 
England " home," as if they expected to return to it. 

The Stamp Act and other measures for the oppres- 
sion of the Colonies, aroused a different spirit. Parlia- 
ment showed a disposition rather piratical than parental, 
relying more on brute force than on justice, and treating 
remonstrance with something worse than neglect. The 
king was on the wrong side from the beginning ; and 
whatever may have been the blunders or the villainies 
of his ministers, he never thought they went far enough 
in taxing, fighting, or punishing the " rebels." Dutiful 
addresses and humble petitions only made him more 
insolent and determined, and the smell of blood acted 
upon him as it does upon wild animals, making him 



214 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 

more and more ferocious. But an awful retribution 
was preparing ; all tlie surer for having proceeded very 
slowly and moderately at first. This patience had 
given time for the aggressors to fill up the measure of 
wrongs, and to arouse the colonists to the pitch of a 
death struggle. 

It has been supposed by some that the wealth ob- 
served among the Americans, the expensive modes of 
living and elegant entertainments reported by the army 
officers on their return to England, had something to 
do with exciting a desire to tax America ; and Mr. 
Weems observes, that the plate which was often bor- 
rowed from family to family when distinguished stran- 
gers were to be entertained, contributed to encourage 
exaggerated notions on this point. Be this as it may, 
nothing could be more intolerable than the spirit dis- 
played by the mother country at this time. 

The Fairfax County Kesolves (June 18th, 1774), 
afterwards so celebrated, were passed at a meeting of 
which Washington was chairman. They are drafted in 
the handwriting of George Mason, but they received 
the full sanction of the chairman, except the twenty- 
third article, which proposes " a humble and dutiful re- 
monstrance to his Majesty." " As for the resolution 
for addressing the House," he says, in a long letter to 
his friend Bryan Fairfax, " I own to you, sir, I think 
the whole might as well have been expunged. * * * 
What hope have we from petitioning, when they tell 
us, that now or never is the time to fix the matter? 



1774.] FAIRFAX KES0LVES. 215 

Shall we, after this, whine and cry for relief, when we 
have already tried it in vain ? Or shall we supinely sit 
and see one province after another fall a sacrifice to 
despotism ? " 

One of the most important of these Resolves is the 
fifteenth, which recommends the non-importation of any 
British goods, except articles of the first necessity. 
The Resolve immediately preceding having urged that 
"Every little jarring interest and dispute, which has 
ever happened between these colonies, should he buried 
in eternal oblivion ; that all manner of luxury and ex- 
travagance ought immediately to be laid aside, as totally 
inconsistent with the threatening and gloomy prospect 
before us ; that it is the indispensable duty of all the 
gentlemen and men of fortune to set examples of tem- 
perance, fortitude, frugality and industry," etc. 

The seventeenth article declares — " That it is the 
opinion of this meeting, that, during our present diffi- 
culties and distress, no slaves ought to be imported into 
any of the British colonies on this continent; and we 
take this opportunity of declaring our most earnest 
wishes to see an entire stop for ever put to such a 
wicked, cruel and unnatural trade." 

George Washington and Charles Broadwater were 
appointed to lay these resolves before the Convention 
at Williamsburg, as the sense of the people of Fairfax 
Count} r , " upon the measures proper to be taken in the 
present alarming and dangerous situation of America." 

As yet there was evidently no settled plan of as- 



216 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 

serting entire independence of the mother country. 
Washington, though he scorned the idea of petitioning 
again, yet anticipated, no doubt, that the spirited and 
decided action of the colonists would induce concessions 
on the part of the government, which would make it 
possible for America to remain loyal without dishonor. 

Mr. Sparks cites from Gordon, a conversation said 
to have taken place in 1759, between Dr. Franklin and 
Mr. Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden. " For all you 
Americans say of your loyalty " — observed Mr Pratt, 
" I know you will one day throw off your dependence 
upon this country, and, notwithstanding your boasted 
affection to it, will set up for independence of it." 

Franklin answered — " No such idea is entertained 
in the mind of the Americans ; and no such idea will 
ever enter their heads, unless you grossly abuse them." 

" Very true," replied Mr. Pratt, " that is one of the 
main causes I see will happen, and will produce the 
event." The abuse came duly, but even then, the idea 
of shaking off the yoke did not readily find entertain- 
ment among the great body of the colonists. 

When Patrick Henry first used the expression, Mr. 
Wirt says, " at the word independence, the company 
appeared to be startled, for they had never heard any 
thing of the kind before even suggested." 

It was not until after a contemptuous rejection of 
their humble petitions, that the colonists began to talk 
of independence without hesitation. The thoughts of 
Mr. Adams and a few others had, it is true, darted for- 



7 774 1 
"*-J INDEPENDENCE PKEPABING, 217 

ward in advance of the general sentiment of the coun- 
try, and a letter of Mr. Adams had found its way into 
the hands of the British Ministry, which irritated and 
alarmed them exceedingly. It was only the word, 
however, that carried a sound of too much daring to 
American ears. The thing was in preparation, con- 
sciously or unconsciously, in every part of the United 
Colonies; and the government of Great Britain were 
clearing the way before it, blind pioneers as they were, 
leaving not a single obstacle, in the shape of habits of 
reverence or hope of future advantage ; but tearing up 
by the roots all "honor, We, observance," by the in- 
solent and tyrannical spirit in which they lorded it 
over their transatlantic brethren. To awaken the at- 
tention of England to the rights and interests of the 
colonies, by starving her trade and manufactures, was 
a favorite plan with Washington, whose turn of mind 
and habits inclined him to think first of sacrifice and 
self-denial, as a good means of accomplishing an object. 
Diplomacy and arms were not naturally the first 
resort with him ; he always preferred simple and direct 
modes of obviating difficulties, beginning as near home 
as possible, and trying grass and clods before he threw 
stones. 

In considering the subject of suspending the im- 
portation of all but articles of the first necessity, he 
goes into a careful consideration of the objections that 
would be made to it by different classes of society, and 
concludes that the greatest opposition will perhaps be 



218 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 

made by gentlemen of property, accustomed to luxury, 
and able to buy what they liked. 

" These," he says, " were they not to consider the 
object in view, and the good of others, might think it 
hard to be curtailed in their living and enjoyments." 

But he goes on to show that as luxury and extrava- 
gance have impoverished many, so a good plea to re- 
trench expenses will enable those to live within bounds, 
who might otherwise be induced, from mere pride, to 
go on keeping up appearances, however ruinously. 
" Upon the whole, therefore," he says in a letter to 
George Mason, " I think the scheme a good one, and 
that it ought to be tried here." 

But when it came to forbidding exports, his sense 
of justice was not weakened by the fervor of patriotic 
feeling. The colonists were largely indebted to mer- 
chants in England, and the only mode of payment was 
by exporting produce thither. He could not assent to 
the proposition that it was but just the English mer- 
chants should share in the evils consequent upon the 
bad government of their rulers. 

The sophistry which would shift off private obliga- 
tions upon the pliblic, found no harbor in his clear, 
honest head. 

He insisted that, for the present at least, no prohibi- 
tions of exports should be attempted. " I think, or at 
least I hope," he says, " that there is public virtue 
enough left among us to deny ourselves every thing 
but the bare necessaries of life, to accomplish this end. 



WW.j BOSTON PORT BILL. 219 

* * * The stopping of our exports would be a 
shorter method than the other to effect this purpose ; 
but if we owe money to Great Britain, nothing but the 
last necessity can justify the non-payment of it ; and 
therefore I have great doubts upon this head, and wish 
to see the other method first tried, which is legal, and 
will facilitate these payments." 

When the news came of a special act of revengeful 
tyranny on the part of government, commonly known 
as the Boston Port Bill, in other words closing the port 
of Boston, forbidding vessels to enter or depart, and 
inflicting other injuries upon the inhabitants of that 
free-spirited town, the Virginia House of Burgesses, 
then in session, passed indignant resolutions of sympa- 
thy, and an order that the first day of June, on which 
day the obnoxious bill was to take effect, " should be 
set apart by that House as a day of fasting, humilia- 
tion, and prayer, devoutly to implore the divine inter- 
position for averting the heavy calamity which threat- 
ened destruction to their civil rights and the evils of 
civil war, and to give them one heart and one mind, 
firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every 
injury to American rights." 

The governor, Lord Dunmore, was so much of- 
fended by this serious outburst of patriotic sympathy, 
that he dissolved the House the next day. But the 
delegates none the less met at a public house, and pro- 
posed a general convention, and when the first of June 



220 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. t 177 * 

arrived, the fast was strictly observed, and Washington 
enters upon his diary : — 

" Went to church, and fasted all day." 

On the first of August, 1774, the convention met, 
and after sixty-six days' sitting, appointed seven dele- 
gates to a general Congress, which had been summoned 
to meet at Philadelphia, September fifth. 

George Washington was, of course, one of the seven, 
and he accordingly proceeded to Philadelphia in com- 
pany with Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton. 
The proceedings of that first Congress have not been 
made public, and we cannot, therefore, assign the par- 
ticular share of merit which should be claimed for 
Washington on that occasion. 

Patrick Henry's testimony is, however, well known. 
On being asked whom he considered the greatest man 
at the Congress — " If you speak of eloquence," he 
said, " Mr. Putledge, of South Carolina, is by far the 
greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid information 
and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unques- 
tionably the greatest man on that floor." 

And we may be permitted to add, that if we judge 
the quality of oratory by its effects, Patrick Henry 
himself was justly entitled to that pre-eminence in elo- 
quence which he so modestly bestows on another. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Remonstrance changing to hostility — An army to be raised — A general wanted — Sev- 
eral candidates— Choice falls on Washington — His acceptance and stipulation — ■ 
Letters to his wife. 

In May, 1775, Washington had made up his mind that 
" the peaceful plains of America " were " either to be 
drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves." Patrick 
Henry had declared " An appeal to arms and to the 
God of Hosts is all that is left us ! " 

The second Congress met at Philadelphia, John 
Hancock in the chair. Military affairs being of imme- 
diate importance, Washington was chairman of all 
committees for their regulation, and his opinion w T as par- 
amount in every thing relating to the army. 

Boston being actually in a state of siege, the ques- 
tion of supplies, of discipline, of legislative sanction 
was perceived to be urgent. Hancock, entitled by his 
great services and sacrifices to any honor in the gift of 
his country, had a natural ambition to be appointed 
commander-in-chief, which w r as the less to be wondered 
at that his own town had been the first to resist and 



222 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

the first to suffer in the cause of liberty, and was even 
at the moment the seat of war. 

General Charles Lee, a sort of genteel Capt. Dal- 
getty, who had been in military service since he was 
eleven years old ; commanded a company of grenadiers 
in the French war ; been shot through the body at Ti- 
conderoga ; narrowly escaped death at the siege of Fort 
Niagara, under Prideaux ; fought in Portugal under 
General Burgoyne ; been employed by Stanislaus, king 
of Poland, and killed more than one of his friends in 
the duello ; reappeared in America at the present crisis, 
under the impulse of the unquiet and ambitious spirit 
which loves a storm and hopes to profit by it. There 
had gone forth a great idea of his military qualifica- 
tions, and he would have had a good chance of being 
chosen first in command, but for the accident of birth, 
which made him an Englishman instead of an Ameri- 
can. 

General Artemas Ward had shown himself a gal- 
lant officer in the Massachusetts difficulties, and had 
proved his military skill by shutting up the British in 
Boston, all which made it very natural that his own 
State should desire to see him at the head of the army. 

A good deal of feeling was manifested in favor of 
these and other candidates, while many members, north- 
ern and southern, thought George Washington was the 
man best fitted for the great charge. 

He, meanwhile, stirred not in the matter, though he 
had a secret sense of what the result would probably 



1775.] NOMINATION BY JOHN ADAMS. 223 

be, and was endeavoring to resolve upon doing his duty 
in the matter, however contrary to his wishes. We 
may easily suppose the struggle to have been a severe 
one ; patriotism and the natural impulse towards the 
acceptance of so high an honor, contending, in a mind 
like his, with a deep sense of the difficulties of the po- 
sition, the extreme uncertainty of the issue, and the 
certain loss, for the time, of all that as a private man 
he most prized, domestic quiet and the safe and whole- 
some pleasures and duties of his rural abode. 

John Adams, always warm, generous and bold, saw 
the necessity of immediate decision upon so important 
a point. Thoroughly acquainted with the various 
opinions, prejudices and preferences of those present, 
he seized the first opportunity to bring the matter to a 
crisis. His own account of the scene is this : — Hav- 
ing moved that Congress should adopt as its own the 
army at Cambridge and appoint a general for it, he 
adds, " As I had reason to believe this was a point of 
some difficulty, I had no hesitation to declare, that I 
had but one gentleman in my mind for that important 
command, and that was a gentleman from Virginia, 
who was among us, and very well known to all of us ; 
a gentleman, whose skill and experience as an officer, 
whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent 
universal character, would command the approbation 
of all America, and unite the cordial exertion of all the 
colonies better than any other person in the Union. 
Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the door, as 



224 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

soon as lie heard me allude to hi m, from his usual mod- 
esty, darted into the library-room." 

After this the debate was warm, though not against 
Washington, but only in favor of General Ward, and 
the decision was postponed. 

On the 15th of June, Mr. Johnson, of Maryland, 
nominated George Washington, of Virginia, as com- 
mander-in-chief, and the election was unanimous. It 
was announced to him on the 16th, by the presiding 
officer of the Assembly. 

Washington rose in his place and said : — 

" Mr. President, — Though I am truly sensible of 
the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel 
great distress, from the consciousness that my abilities 
and military experience may not be equal to the exten- 
sive and important trust. However, as the Congress 
desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and 
exert every power I possess in their service, and for the 
support of the glorious cause. 

" I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for 
this distinguished testimony of their approbation. 

" But lest some unlucky event should happen, un- 
favorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remem- 
bered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day 
declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my- 
self equal to the command I am honored with. 

" As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, 
that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted 



1775.] LOVE OF INDEPENDENCE. 225 

me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense 
of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to 
make any profit from it. 

" I will keep an exact account of my expenses. 
Those, I doubt not, they will discharge ; and that is all 
I desire." 

There was -always something princely about Wash- 
ington, and it never shone out more conspicuously than 
on this occasion, when he wholly set aside the order of 
Congress as to pay, and constituted himself the judge 
and regulator with regard to pecuniary relations be- 
tween himself and the country. 

Personal independence was as dear to him as na- 
tional, and lie seems to have made use of his large for- 
tune as a safeguard against all temptations of a pecu- 
niary kind. That this fortune must suffer by the duty 
he had now undertaken, he knew very well ; but that 
was to be his own sacrifice, and it was but of small ac- 
count in comparison of the dearer one of domestic hap- 
piness. He writes to his brother, — 

" I am now to bid adieu to you, and to every kind 
of domestic ease, for a while. I am embarked on a 
wide ocean, boundless in its prospect, and in which, 
perhaps, no safe harbor is to be found. 

" I have been called upon by the unanimous voice 
of the colonies to take the command of the continental 
army ; an honor I neither sought after nor desired, as 
I am thoroughly convinced that it requires great abili- 



226 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

ties, and much more experience than I am master 
of." 

Then speaking of Mrs. Washington : — 
" I shall hope that my friends will visit and en- 
deavor to keep up the spirits of my wife, as much as 
they can, for my departure will, I know, be a cutting 
stroke upon her ; and on this account alone I have 
many disagreeable sensations." 

To Mrs. Washington herself he writes : — 

"Philadelphia, 18 June, 1775. 

" My Dearest, — I am now set down to write to you 
on a subject which fills me with inexpressible concern, 
and this concern is greatly aggravated and increased 
when I reflect upon the uneasiness I know it will give 
you. It has been determined in Congress, that the 
whole army raised in defence of the American cause 
shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for 
me to proceed immediately to Boston, to take upon me 
the command of it. 

" You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I as- 
sure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from 
seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor 
in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwilling- 
ness to part with you and the family, but from a con- 
sciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, 
and that I should enjoy more real happiness in one 
month with you at home, than I have the most distant 
prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven 



1775.] SERIOUS CONSIDERATIONS. 227 

times seven years. But as it has been a kind of destiny 
that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that 
my undertaking it is designed to answer some good 
purpose. You might, and I suppose did perceive, from 
the tenor of my letters, that I was apprehensive I could 
not avoid this appointment, as I did not pretend to in- 
timate when I should return. 

" That was the case. It was utterly out of my power 
to refuse this appointment, without exposing my char- 
acter to such censures as would have reflected dishonor 
upon myself, and given pain to my friends. 

" This, I am sure, could not, and ought not, to be 
pleasing to you, and must have lessened me considera- 
bly in my own esteem. I shall rely, therefore, confi- 
dently, on that Providence which has heretofore pre- 
served and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that 
I shall return safe to you in the fall. I shall feel no 
pain from the toil or the danger of the campaign ; my 
nnhappiness will flow from the uneasiness I know you 
will feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that 
you will summon your whole fortitude, and pass your 
time as agreeably as possible. Nothing will give me 
so much sincere satisfaction as to hear this, and to hear 
it from your own pen. My earnest and ardent desire 
is, that you would pursue any plan that is most likely 
to produce content, and a tolerable degree of tranquil- 
lity ; as it must add greatly to my uneasy feelings to 
hear that you are dissatisfied or complaining at what I 
really could not avoid. 



228 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

" As life is always uncertain, and common prudence 
dictates to every man the necessity of settling his tem- 
poral concerns, while it is in his power and while the 
mind is calm and undisturbed, I have, since I came to 
this place (for I had no time to do it before I left home), 
got Col. Pendleton to draught a will for me, by the di- 
rections I gave him, which I will now enclose. The 
provision made for you in case of my death, will, I 
hope, be agreeable. 

" I shall add nothing more, as I have several letters 
to write, but to desire that you will remember me to 
your friends, and to assure you that I am with the 
most unfeigned regard, my dear Patsy, your affection- 
ate," &c. 

And again, as he was leaving Philadelphia : — 

"Philadelphia, June 23d, 1775. 

" My Dearest, — As I am within a few minutes of 
leaving this city, I could not think of departing from 
it without dropping you a line, especially as I do not 
know whether it will be in my power to write again 
until I get to the camp at Boston. I go fully trusting 
in that Providence which lias been more bountiful to 
me than I deserve, and in full confidence of a happy 
meeting with you in the fall. I have not time to add 
more, as I am surrounded by company to take leave of 
me. I retain an unalterable affection for you, which 
neither time nor distance can change. My best love to 



1775 GREAT MEN COME AT NEED. 229 

Jack and Nelly, and regards to the rest of the family, 
concludes me with the utmost sincerity, 
" Your entire 

"Geo. Washington." 

What generosity of patriotism there was in the men 
of those days, and how a common indignation and a 
common danger seem to have raised them above the 
mean, petty jealousies and heart-burnings that so dis- 
figure public doings in times of peace and prosperity ! 
We look upon such nobleness with a sort of wonder ; 
yet what can be more certain than that any attack from 
without upon our liberties would raise up among us — 
we dare hardly say a Washington — but such men as 
John Adams, Richard Henry Lee, John Hancock, Pa- 
trick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, and a host more, who 
sprang up, as at some Ithuriel touch, when clanger 
threatened all that is dearest to the sons of freedom. 
It is but the canker of ease and abundance that we see 
and often mourn in the political aspect of things here 
at home. It is the young heir living upon his father's 
earnings, without a thought of the toil and sacrifice by 
which the fortune came, yet possessing all the while 
talents, aye, and virtues, too, for the acquisition of such 
another, if need were. Who can doubt it? Let us 
never, by a want of faith in our countrymen, dishonor 
our sires and the inheritance they have left us ! 

The battle of Bunker Hill having taken place in 
the time that intervened between Washington's accept- 



230 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

ance and the receipt of his commission, he set out for 
Cambridge with no lingering doubt as to the nature, 
meaning, and consequences of the service in which he 
had pledged all. 

He knew that life, and what was dearer than life, 
hung upon his movements when he left Philadelphia, 
on the 21st of June, 1775, accompanied by his chosen 
associates, Generals Lee and Schuyler. He had just 
reviewed several companies of militia, to the number 
of about two thousand men, and these escorted him out 
of the city, one troop of light-horse accompanying him 
to New York, where he was received with enthusiasm, 
and all possible public honors. " No burning of powder, 
however ! " says one of the letter- writers, and with 
good reason, for New York had at that moment but 
four barrels of that noisy article within her bounds, all 
the rest (one thousand barrels) having been forwarded 
to Cambridge, to meet the greater necessities there. 
The frigate Asia lay anchored off the Battery, and Gov. 
Tryon was momently expected home from England ; 
but the Provincial Congress of New York and New 
Jersey, by its president, offered a congratulatory ad- 
dress, concluding with the significant compliment — 
" We have the most flattering hope of success in the 
glorious struggle for American liberty, and the fullest 
assurances that whenever this important contest shall 
be decided by that fondest wish of each American soul, 
an accommodation with our mother country, you will 
cheerfully resign the important de|)osit committed into 



1775.] SOLDIEK AND CITIZEN. 231 

your hands, and reassume the character of our worthiest 
citizen." 

General Washington met this hint with his usual 
simplicity and directness. 

He replied as follows, in behalf of himself and his 
generals, to this part of the address : — 

" As to the fatal but necessary operations of war, 
when we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside the 
citizen ; and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in 
that happy hour, when the establishment of American 
liberty on the most firm and solid foundations, shall 
enable us to return to our private stations, in the bosom 
of a free, peaceful, and happy country." 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

The battle of Bunker Hill already fought — Washington hurries on — Takes command 
under the Great Elm at Cambridge — The impression he makes — Letters to Gen- 
eral Gage — Want, of money, clothing, powder, and all the necessaries of war — 
Sarcasms cast upon the supineness of the army and its general — Cares and troubles 
of Washington — His patience under them. 

It was not until he reached Xew York that Washington 
received a detailed account of the battle of Bunker 
Hill. He saw the necessity for despatch, and staid no 
longer at New York than w T as necessary for his arrange- 
ments. Leaving General Schuyler in command there, 
he hastened on, w T as met by an honorary deputation at 
Springfield, and reached "Watertown, three miles from 
Cambridge, July 2d. The speech of welcome runs 
thus : " The laudable zeal for the common cause of 
America, and compassion for the distresses of this 
colony, exhibited by the great despatch made in your 
journey hither, fully justify the universal satisfaction 
we have, w T ith pleasure, observed on this occasion ; and 
arc promising presages, that the great expectations 
formed from your personal character and military 
abilities are w r ell-founded. 



1775.] MANY LESSONS NEEDED. 233 

" We would not presume to prescribe to your Ex- 
cellency, but supposing you would choose to be in- 
formed of the general character of the soldiers who 
compose this army, beg leave to represent, that the 
greatest part of them have not before seen service ; and 
although naturally brave and of good understanding, 
yet, for want of experience in military life, have but 
little knowledge of divers things most essential to the 
preservation of health, and even of life. 

" The youth in the army are not impressed with the 
absolute necessity of cleanliness in their dress and 
lodging, continued exercise, and strict temperance, to 
preserve them from diseases frequently prevailing in 
camps ; especially among those, who, from their child- 
hood, have been used to a laborious life. We beg; leave 
to assure you, that this Congress will, at all times, be 
ready to attend to such requisitions as you may have 
occasion to make, and to contribute all the aid in our 
power to the cause of America and your happiness and 
ease, in the discharge of the duties of your exalted office. 
We most fervently implore Almighty God, that the 
blessings of Divine Providence may rest on you ; that 
your head may be covered in the day of battle ; that 
every necessary assistance may be afforded ; and that 
you may be long continued in life and health, a blessing 
to mankind." 

As the commander-in-chief entered the camp, he was 
greeted with salvos of artillery, spite of the scarcity of 
powder ; and the officers and men who gazed at first 



234 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

with curiosity on the general as he passed, learned at 
once the lesson of admiration and reverence, which it 
was his privilege to inspire wherever he went. 

On the morning of July 3d, the troops were arrayed 
on the common, at Cambridge, to receive their general. 
The cortege from Watertown was anxiously watched 
for. Though Washington was not then the Washington 
of our memories, yet enough had been said of him, of 
his bravery, his patriotism, his talents, and his gallant 
bearing, to excite unusual interest in the troops. At 
length the trampling of horse amid a cloud of dust, 
ushered in the commander-in-chief and his suite, all 
picked men and finely mounted. As they approached the 
line the eye sought and easily recognized him in whose 
bearing should shine forth the right to rule. At the 
same moment the central figure galloped forward, and 
wheeling his charger beneath the Great Elm which still 
adorns the spot, drew his sword, and, flashing it in 
the air, took command, in form, of the armies of the 
United Colonies. 

" It was not difficult to distinguish him from all 
others," says Thacher. " He is tall and well-propor- 
tioned, and his personal appearance truly noble and 
majestic." 

That this was not mere outward appearance, or even 
the effect of mental traits only, we are assured from 
various anecdotes showing the great physical power of 
Washington at the time. One in j)articular recounted 
by an eye-witness is quoted by Mr. Irving. It occur- 



1775.] POETIC ESTIMATE BY MRS. ADAMS. 235 

red on the green, at Cambridge. It happened that 
some dispute among the soldiers had brought on a fight, 
and as blows bring blows, the mischief spread until a 
great number of men were engaged, and there was a 
general and dangerous melee. 

In the midst of it, says the narrator, the commander- 
in-chief galloped up, I know not from what quarter ; 
but quick as lightning he sprang from his horse, threw 
the bridle to his servant, and dashed in among the com- 
batants. Seizing two great powerful fellows, by the 
collar, one in each hand, he shook them soundly, talk- 
ing to them all the while, and then mounted his horse 
again and rode quietly off, the crowd having dispersed 
at once, requiring no further hint. 

Mrs. Adams says of the impression made on her at 
first sight : " Dignity, ease and complacency, the gen- 
tleman and the soldier, look agreeably blended in him. 
Modesty marks every line and feature of his face." 

These lines of Dryden instantly occurred to her : 

Mark his majestic fabric ! He's a temple 
Sacred by birth and built by hands divine ; 
His soul's the deity that lodges there ; 
Nor is the pile unworthy of the God." 

From all contemporary testimony we derive the im- 
pression that in the birth, nurture and destiny of this 
man, so blest in all good gifts, Providence seems to 
have intended the realization of Milton's ideal type of 
glorious manhood : 



236 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

A creature who, endued 
With sanctity of reason, might erect 
His stature, and upright, with front serene, 
Govern the rest, self-knowing; and from thence, 
Magnanimous, to correspond with Heaven ; 
But, grateful to acknowledge whence his good 
Descends, thither, with heart and voice and eyes, 
Directed in devotion, to adore 
And worship God supreme, who made him chief 
Of all his works. 

The first general order issued by Washington reads 
as follows : — 

" The Continental Congress having now taken all 
the troops of the several colonies, which have been 
raised or which may be hereafter raised for the support 
and defence of the liberties of America, into their pay 
and service, they are now the troops of the United 
Provinces of North America ; and it is hoped that all 
distinctions of colonies will be laid aside, so that one 
and the same spirit may animate the whole, and the 
only contest be, who shall render, on this great and try- 
ing occasion, the most essential service to the great and 
common cause in which we are all engaged. It is re- 
quired and expected that exact discipline be observed, 
and due subordination prevail through the whole army ; 
as a failure in these most essential points must neces- 
sarily produce extreme hazard, disorder, and confusion, 
and end in shameful disappointment and disgrace. The 
general most earnestly requires and expects a due ob- 
servance of those articles of war, established for the 



1775.] KEW LORDS, NEW LAWS. 237 

government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, 
swearing, and drunkenness. And in like manner he 
requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not en- 
gaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine 
service, to implore the blessing of Heaven upon the 
means used for our safety and defence." 

As to the appearance and condition of the American 
camp, we find in Sparks' Life the following letter from 
Rev. William Emerson, a chaplain in the army. It 
was written a few days after the arrival of the com- 
mander-in-chief. 

" There is great overturning in the camp, as to or- 
der and regularity. New lords, new laws. The Gen- 
erals Washington and Lee are upon the lines every day. 
New orders from his Excellency are read to the respec- 
tive regiments every morning after prayers. The strict- 
est government is taking place, and great distinction is 
made between officers and soldiers. 

" Every one is made to know his place and keep in 
it, or be tied up and receive thirty or forty lashes ac- 
cording to his crime. Thousands are at work every 
day from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is 
surprising how much work lias been done. The lines 
are extended almost from Cambridge to Mystic River, 
so that very soon it will be morally impossible for the 
enemy to get between the works, except in one place ; 
which is supposed to be left purposely unfortified to en- 
tice the enemy out of their fortresses. Who would have 
thought, twelve months past, that all Cambridge and 



238 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

Charlestown would be covered over with American 
camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and all 
the lands, fields, orchards, laid common, horses and cat- 
tle feeding in the choicest mowing land, whole fields of 
corn eaten down to the ground, and large parks of well 
regulated locusts cut down for firewood and other pub- 
lic uses % This, I must say, looks a little melancholy. 
My quarters are at the foot of the famous Prospect 
Hill, where such great preparations are made for the 
reception of the enemy. It is very diverting to walk 
among the camps. They are as different in their forms, 
as the owners are in their dress ; and every tent is a 
portraiture of the temper and tastes of the persons who 
encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of 
sailcloth. Some partly of one and partly of the other. 
Again, others are made of stone and turf, brick or brush. 
Some are thrown up in a hurry, others curiously 
wrought, the doors and windows done with wreaths and 
withes in the manner of a basket. Some are your 
proper tents and marquees, looking like the regular 
camp of the enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, 
who are furnished with tent-equipage and every thing in 
the most exact English style. However, I think this great 
variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the army." 
Now it was that Washington undertook the intoler- 
able duty of organizing a young army, without clothes, 
tents, ammunition, or money ; with a rich, bitter and 
disciplined enemy in sight, and boiling blood on both 
sides. Here it was that General Gage, with whom he 



1775.] LETTERS TO GENERAL GAGE. 239 

had fought, side by side, twenty years before, on the 
Monongahela, so exasperated him by insolent replies to 
his remonstrances against the cruel treatment of Amer- 
ican prisoners, that he gave directions for retaliation 
upon any of the enemy that might fall into American 
hands. He was, however, Washington still, even though 
burning with a holy anger ;. and, ere the order could 
reach its destination, it was countermanded, and a charge 
given to all concerned that the prisoners should be al- 
lowed parole, and that every other proper indulgence 
and civility should be shown them. His letters to 
General Gage are models of that kind of writing. In 
writing to Lord Dartmouth afterwards, the British 
commander, who had been rebuked with such cutting 
and deserved severity, observes with great significance, 
" The trials we have had, show the rebels are not the 
despicable rabble we have supposed them to be." 

The British government caused General Washing- 
ton's first letter to General Gage, with General Gage's 
reply, to be published, supposing probably, that the in- 
solent tone of the latter would strike terror into the 
hearts of the rebels, while it inspired the royalists with 
new contempt for their adversaries. But it did not 
think proper to publish General Washington's rejoinder, 
one of the most characteristic letters he ever wrote : 

To Lieuten ant-General Gage. 

" Head-Quakters, Cambridge, 20$ Aug., 1775. 
" Sir, — I addressed you on the 111]) instant, in terms 



240 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

which gave the fairest scope for that humanity and po- 
liteness, which were supposed to form a part of your 
character. I remonstrated with you on the unworthy 
treatment shown to the officers and citizens of America, 
whom the fortune of war, chance, or a mistaken confi- 
dence had thrown into your hands. Whether British 
or American mercy, fortitude, and patience are most 
pre-eminent ; whether our virtuous citizens, whom the 
hand of tyranny has forced into arms to defend their 
wives, their children, and their property, or the merci- 
less instruments of lawless domination, avarice, and re- 
venge, best deserve the appellation of rebels, and the 
punishment of that cord, which your affected clemency 
has forborne to inflict; whether the authority under 
which I act is usurped, or founded upon the general 
principles of liberty, were altogether foreign to the sub- 
ject. I purposely avoided all political disquisition ; 
nor shall I now avail myself of those advantages, which 
the sacred cause of my country, of liberty, and of hu- 
man nature, give me over you ; much less shall I stoop 
to retort and invective ; but the intelligence you say 
you have received from our army requires a reply. I 
have taken time, sir, to make a strict inquiry, and find 
it has not the least foundation in truth. 

" Not only your officers and soldiers have been 
treated with the tenderness due to fellow-citizens and 
brethren, but even those execrable parricides, whose 
counsels and aid have deluged their country with 
blood, have been protected from the fury of a justly 



1775> ] SOME CUTTING REBUKES. 241 

enraged people. Far from compelling or permitting 
their assistance, I am embarrassed with the numbers 
who crowd to our camp, animated with the purest 
principles of virtue and love to their country. 

" You advise me to give free operation to truth, and 
to punish misrepresentation and falsehood. If experi- 
ence stamps value upon counsel, yours must have a 
weight which few can claim. You best can tell how 
far the convulsion, which has brought such ruin on 
both countries, and shaken the mighty empire of Britain 
to its foundation, may be traced to these malignant 
causes. 

" You affect, sir, to despise all rank not derived 
from the same source with your own. I cannot con- 
ceive one more honorable than that which flows from 
the uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people, the 
purest source and original fountain of all power. Far 
from making it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true mag- 
nanimity and enlarged ideas would comprehend and 
respect it. 

" "What may have been the ministerial views which 
have precipitated the present crisis, Lexington, Con- 
cord and Charlestown can best declare. 

"May that God to whom you then appeal, judge 
between America and you. Under his Providence, 
those who influence the counsels of America, and all 
the other inhabitants of the United Colonies, at the 
hazard of their lives, are determined to hand down to 
11 



242 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

posterity those just and invaluable privileges which 
they received from their ancestors. 

" I shall now, sir, close my correspondence with 
you, perhaps for ever. If your officers, our prisoners, 
receive a treatment from me different from that which 
I wished to show them, they and you will remember 
the occasion of it. 

" I am, sir, your humble servant." 

The difficulties under which the new army was 
laboring, are not to be described within reasonable com- 
pass, and they were utterly unsuspected by the public 
at the time. This occasioned many murmurs and many 
sarcasms about inactivity and too great prudence, which 
were very galling to Washington. 

In writing to Richard Henry Lee, who had suggested 
something which was not to be attempted under the cir- 
cumstances, he says : " To you, sir, 1 may account for 
my conduct ; but I cannot declare the motives of it to 
every one, notwithstanding I know, that by not doing 
it, I shall stand in a very unfavorable light, in the 
opinion of those who expect much and will find little 
done, without understanding or perhaps giving them- 
selves the trouble of inquiring into the cause. Such, 
however, is the fate of all those who are obliged to act 
the part I do ; I must therefore submit to it, under the 
consciousness of having done my duty to the best of my 
abilities." 

In a circular letter proposing an attack upon the 



1775.] THINGS SMALL AND GREAT. 243 

enemy's lines at Roxbury, Washington remarks : " The 
success of such an enterprise depends, I well know, upon 
the All- wise Disposer of events, and it is not within the 
reach of human wisdom to foretell the issue ; but if the 
prospect is fair, the undertaking is justifiable for the 
following among other reasons which might be as- 
signed," and he goes on to state the desirableness of 
satisfying the public expectation even at some risk. 

His letters of the time show a multitude of cares and 
interests, and in spite of the immediate and pressing 
business about him, it would seem as if nothing was too 
remote or trifling to be remembered. 

In a paper of instructions to General Arnold, then 
in Canada, (September, 1775,) we find the following 
curious item :- 

" If Lord Chatham's son should be in Canada, and 
in any way should fall into your power, you are en- 
joined to treat him with all possible deference and re- 
spect. You cannot err in paying too much honor to 
the son of so illustrious a character, and so true a friend 
to America." 

And this : " I also give it in charge to you to avoid 
all disrespect of the religion of the country, and its 
ceremonies. Prudence, policy, and a true Christian 
spirit, will lead us to look with compassion upon their 
errors without insulting them. While we are contend- 
ing for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not 
to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever con- 
sidering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of 



244 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

men, and to him only in this case they are answer- 
able." 

In a public invitation to Canada to join the Ameri- 
can cause, are these paragraphs : 

" Come then, my brethren, unite with us in an in- 
dissoluble union ; let us run together to the same goal. 
We have taken up arms in defence of our liberty, our 
property, our wives, and our children ; we are deter- 
mined to preserve them or die. We look forward with 
pleasure to that day, not far remote we hope, when the 
inhabitants of America shall have one sentiment, and 
the full enjoyment of the blessings of a free govern- 
ment. 

" The cause of America, and of liberty, is the cause 
of every virtuous American citizen ; whatever may be 
his religion or descent, the United Colonies know no 
distinction but such as slavery, corruption and arbitrary 
dominion may create. Come, then, ye generous citi- 
zens, range yourselves under the standard of general 
liberty, against which all the force and artifices of tyr- 
anny will never be able to prevail." 

In a letter of the time to the President of Congress, 
Washington writes : — 

" It gives me great pain to be obliged to solicit the 
attention of the honorable Congress to the state of this 
army, in terms which imply the slightest apprehension 
of being neglected. But my situation is inexpressibly 
distressing, to see the winter fast approaching upon a 
naked arm} r , the time of their service within a few 



1775.] N0 MONEY — NO CLOTHES — NO POWDEK. 245 

weeks of expiring, and no provision yet made for such 
important events. Added to these, the military chest 
is totally exhausted ; the paymaster has not a single 
dollar iu hand ; the commissary -general assures me he 
has strained his credit, for the subsistence of the army, 
to the utmost. The quartermaster-general is precisely 
in the same situation ; and the greater part of the troops 
are in a state not far from mutiny, upon the deduction 
from their stated allowance. I know not to whom I 
am to impute this failure ; but I am of opinion, if the 
evil is not immediately remedied, and more punctuality 
observed in future, the army must absolutely break 
up." 

And so the strain runs, week after week, month af- 
ter month, till our sympathy becomes painful as we 
read. 

There were times when the spirits of the command- 
er-in-chief sank to the very verge of despondency ; 
though this is seldom betrayed in his public letters. 
When he writes to his friends and relatives, he unbur- 
thens his heart, as if for the relief which he dare seek 
in no other quarter. k ' Few people know," he writes 
to his friend Joseph Reed, " the predicament we are 
in ; fewer still will believe, if any disaster happens 
to these lines, from what cause it flows. I have often 
thought how much happier I should have been if, in- 
stead of accepting the command under these circum- 
stances, I had taken my musket on my shoulder and 
entered the ranks, — or if I could have justified the 



246 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

measure to posterity and my own conscience, had re- 
tired to the back country and lived in a wigwam. If 
I shall be able to rise superior to these difficulties, I 
shall most religiously believe that the finger of Provi- 
dence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies ; for 
surely if we get well through this month, it must be 
for want of their knowing the disadvantages we labor 
under." 

To his brother he writes : — " I have been here 
months together with (what will scarcely be believed) 
not thirty rounds of musket cartridges to a man ; and 
have been obliged to submit to all the insults of the 
enemy's cannon, for want of powder, keeping what little 
we had for pistol distance." 

It may easily be believed that under these depress- 
ing circumstances, Washington Avas not much disposed 
to gayety ; and we hear, accordingly, that he repressed 
all the levity usually allowed in camps under the idea 
of keeping up the spirits of the soldiers. He felt that 
the circumstances of the time were far too serious to 
allow of any unguarded moments, or any slackening 
of the half-fitted reins of discipline. Even Mrs. Wash- 
ington was not exempted from this stern rule ; for in 
the winter, when her wedding day came round, and 
she wished to keep it as she had been accustomed 
to do at home, with a little gathering of friends, the 
general objected, and could only by great urgency be 
prevailed upon to allow it. 

The treatment of prisoners continued to be a subject 



KT7&.] GOOD FOR EVIL. 247 

of complaint on both sides, and "Washington was some- 
times provoked to think of retaliation, when any new 
outrage upon our people came to his knowledge. But 
he always relented, and set a noble example of for- 
bearance to General Gage, whose personal resentment 
against the " rebels " made him sometimes very sav- 
age. A specimen of the way in which General Wash- 
ington treated prisoners may be found in the following 
letter, conveying a quiet and gentlemanly rebuke to an 
old British colonel, then a prisoner of war at Hartford, 
Connecticut, who kept teazing him about small mat- 
ters, such as being allowed to wear his sword, &c. 

" My disposition does not allow me to follow the 
unworthy example set me by General Gage to its full- 
est extent. You possess all the essential comforts of 
life ; why should you press for indulgences of a cere- 
monious kind, which give general offence ? 

" I have looked over all the papers sent me from 
Philadelphia. I find nothing in them upon the present 
subject, nor do I know whether the liberty of wearing 
your sword was given or taken. But I flatter myself, 
that, when you come to consider all circumstances, 
you will save me the trouble of giving any positive direc- 
tions. You will easily conceive how much more grate- 
ful a compliance with the wishes of the people, among 
whom your residence may be longer than you expect, 
will appear, when it is the result of your prudence and 
good sense, rather than of a determination from me. 

" I therefore should be unwilling to deprive you of 



248 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

an opportunity of cultivating their esteem by so small 
a concession as this must be. 

" As I suppose your several letters to me have been 
communicated to others, I cannot forbear considering 
your conduct in declaring, in a high tone, that, had 
you joined your regiment, you would have acted vig- 
orously against this country and done all in your power 
to reduce it, as a deviation from the line of propriety 
and prudence which I should have expected to distin- 
guish the conduct of so old and experienced an officer. 
Your being so entirely in our power, may extinguish 
the resentment which a generous and enlightened mind 
would otherwise feel ; but I cannot commend the con- 
duct which puts such a mind to the trial. 

" I am, sir, your most obedient humble servant." 

At the same time Washington wrote to the commit- 
tee at Hartford : — " Allow me to recommend a gentle- 
ness, even to forbearance, with persons so entirely in 
our power. We know not what the chance of war may 
be ; but, let it be what it will, the duties of humanity 
and kindness will demand from us such a treatment as 
we should expect from others, the case being reversed." 

While besiegers and besieged lay equally inactive 
at Boston, and the whole country was wondering what 
such supineness could mean, it is curious to read the 
reasons given by each party to its own side, for not at- 
tacking the other. General Gage tells Lord Dartmouth 
that it is not advisable to attempt penetrating the coun- 



1775.] DIFFICULTIES ON BOTH SIDES. 249 

try from Boston. " The enemy's forces are numerous," 
he says, " and such an attempt must be made under 
very great disadvantages ; and even if successful, little 
would be gained by it, as neither horses, carriages, nor 
other means for moving forward could be procured. 
Our force is too small to be divided into detachments 
for this purpose, and success would answer no other 
end than to drive the rebels out of one stronghold into 
another." 

At the same time, General "Washington, writing to 
a Virginian friend, describes his own position thus : — 

" The enemy in Boston and on the heights at 
Charlestown (two peninsulas surrounded in a manner 
by ships-of-war and floating batteries), are so strongly 
fortified as to render it almost impossible to force their 
lines, thrown up at the head of each neck. 

" Without great slaughter on our side, or cowardice 
on theirs, it is absolutely so. We therefore can do no 
more than keep them besieged, which they are, to all 
intents and purposes, as closely as any troops on earth 
can be, who have an opening to the sea. 

" Our advanced works and theirs are within musket- 
shot. We daily undergo a cannonade, which has done 
no injury to our works, and very little hurt to our men. 

" These insults we are compelled to submit to for 
want of powder ; being obliged, except now and then 
giving them a shot, to reserve what we have for closer 
work than cannon distance." 

The levying of men, as it was the most urgent, 
11* 



250 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

proved also the most trying business of the whole siege, 
and, next to the scarcity of ammunition, caused the 
greatest anxiety and disappointment to Washington as 
commander-in-chief. To create an army out of raw re- 
cruits, and those taken from a population whose very 
motive in taking arms was to secure liberty, was enough 
to discourage any man on whom the responsibility 
rested ; and when it is considered that, for the sake of 
the despatch that was so necessary, it had been decided 
that any man enlisting fifty-nine recruits was entitled 
to become their captain, and that whoever succeeded in 
enlisting ten such companies had a right to be the colo- 
nel, the position of him whose duty it was to reduce 
this chaos of ignorance and inexperience to serviceable 
order and discipline, may be faintly conceived. 

The enemy were believed to have in Boston about 
eleven thousand five hundred men, and it was consid- 
ered requisite for the besieging force, whose line, reach- 
ing from Dorchester to Mystic River, embraced a dis- 
tance of twelve miles, to have on the ground at least 
twenty-two thousand. About fourteen thousand five 
hundred colonial troops were reckoned fit for service. 
It was therefore necessary to raise immediately seven 
thousand five hundred men. For this number there 
were no tents, no provisions, no clothing, no money, 
above all no ammunition — " not powder enough in the 
whole camp for nine cartridges to a man." 

A British officer wrote to a friend in London : 
" The rebel army are in so wretched a condition 



1775.] BETWEEN TWO FERES. 251 

as to clothing and accoutrements, that I believe no na- 
tion ever saw such a set of tatterdemalions. There 
are few coats among them but what are out at el- 
bows, and in a whole regiment there is scarce a whole 
pair of breeches. Judge, then, how they must be 
pinched by a winter campaign." 

Under these circumstances, the patience, the pru- 
dence, the humanity of Washington was put to the se- 
verest test. Far from having any notion of military 
obedience, the troops, fresh from the independence of 
the plough and the shop, discussed and passed judg- 
ment upon the orders they received, and obeyed or ob- 
jected as they saw fit. Some did not like the articles 
presented to them, and refused to sign ; others mur- 
mured at the want of all decent and even necessary 
provision for their wants, and feared that from present 
prospects there was danger of going on from bad to 
worse. It was all quite natural for citizen troops, even 
those of them who had consented to serve on princi- 
ple ; still more to be expected from such lawless men 
as must necessarily compose the bulk of every army. 
On the other hand, the new and feeble Congress was 
quite as jealous of the power of the army, and, fearing 
they were parting with their liberty, doled out the re- 
quisite support only drop by drop, as if it had been 
their life-blood. This, again, was not to be wondered 
at ; but where, between these two pressures, stood the 
commander-in-chief? Suffering the peine forte et dure 
we may easily believe. Yet he was mild and pa- 



252 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 

tient with the grumbling soldiery, respectful and ingen- 
ious with the anxious Congress. He yielded to the 
fears and prejudices of the army, whenever he could 
do so without injury to the service ; was no stickler for 
his own authority, but resorted to argument when it 
was likely to be available, and kept steadily teaching, 
by means of his general orders, the sentiments that 
should actuate men fighting for liberty. As to Con- 
gress, says Mr. Sparks : — 

" These misgivings were early discovered by Wash- 
ington. He respected the motive, although he could 
not but lament its effects. Conscious, on his own part, 
of the highest purity of purpose, and harboring no la- 
tent thought which was not directed to the best good 
of his country, if he felt wounded at this suspicion, he 
did not suffer it to appear in his conduct, nor to alter 
his opinion of the watchful guardians of the people's 
liberty. Example, he wisely thought, would be more 
regarded than complaint, more persuasive than words. 
If ability and courage are necessary in a commander, 
he soon saw, that, in his case at least, patience, forbear- 
ance, and fortitude, were not less so." 

The cruel burning of Falmouth, a town of three 
hundred houses in Casco Bay, set the whole coast in 
a ferment, as the report went that the British gov- 
ernment had ordered the destruction of all the sea-ports 
that were accessible. This was a mistaken idea, for the 
government had not at all approved the destruction of 
Falmouth ; but the panic was great, for the time. As 



1775.] ALARM ALONG THE COAST. 253 

a natural consequence, every eastward town, small and 
great, was entreating help from the commander-in-chief 
— each feeling its own danger the most imminent, its 
own claims paramount. But how could Washington 
spare men, arms, powder ? " My readiness to serve 
you is circumscribed by my inability," he replies. 
" The immediate necessities of the army under my 
command require all the powder and ball that can be 
collected with the utmost industry and trouble. The 
authority of my station does not extend so far as to em- 
power me to send a detachment of men to your assist- 
ance." 

Thus quietly, and with the reticence required by the 
public service, did he refuse what was passionately de- 
sired and expected ; and along the whole distracted 
coast his popularity had to take care of itself. But it 
was soon understood that each exposed town must pro- 
vide for its own defence by its own militia, and the 
army was thus, for all future time, spared such onerous 
requisitions. 

Among great matters, there were some little ones 
that claimed the attention of the general, as appears 
from the following " Order " which we copy from 
Sparks. 

" November 5th. — As the commander-in-chief has 
been apprised of a design formed for the observance of 
that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the effigy 
of the Pope, he cannot help expressing his surprise, that 
there should be officers and soldiers in this army so void 



254 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

of common sense, as not to see the impropriety of such 
a step at this juncture ; at a time when we are soliciting 
and have really obtained the friendship and alliance of 
the people of Canada, whom we ought to consider as 
brethren embarked in the same cause, the defence of 
the general liberty of America. 

"At such a juncture and in such circumstances, to 
be insulting their religion, is so monstrous, as not to be 
suffered or excused ; indeed, instead of offering the 
most remote insult, it is our duty to address public 
thanks to these our brethren, as to them we are so 
much indebted for every late happy success over the 
common enemy in Canada." 

A newly appointed colonel asks advice as to his new 
duties. Washington writes him frankly and fully, 
marking out the principles and manners of which he 
himself was so shining an example, and concluding — 
" These, sir, not because I think you need the advice, 
but because you have been condescending enough to 
ask it, I have presumed to give as the great outlines of 
your conduct." 

It was by this invariable respect and tireless atten- 
tion, that he acquired such immense influence, and baf- 
fled the many efforts made to disparage him and injure 
his estimation among the people. If he had had a spice 
of the demagogue in him, he would have been more 
condescending and less constant in his civility ; and if 
the foundations of his popularity had been less broadly 
laid, its apex would not now reach the heavens. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Doings at Mount Vernon — Some fears of the enemy — Washington's confidence in his 
agent — Care for the poor — Mrs. Washington's journey to head-quarters — Eespect 
of the people — Her influence — Rural tastes — Plain, generous hospitality. 

But where was the good lady, all this time ? How was 
the quiet little Virginia housewife faring, at Mount 
Vernon, while her husband was drilling raw recruits, 
pacifying jealous officers, arguing with exacting gov- 
ernors, throwing up defences on Charlestown neck, and 
firing now and then a nine-pounder at the British, 
though he grudged the powder, even when the shot 
sunk a floating battery ? Whether from apathy or 
courage, Mrs. Washington continued to reside at Mount 
Vernon, undisturbed by wars or rumors of wars, until 
on all sides there arose general alarm lest the enemy 
should, by way of touching the rebel commander at the 
tenderest point, steal up the Potomac, that broad, silent 
highway, leading to the very door of his house, and 
make a raid upon the domain, profaning his household 
gods, and perhaps carrying off the presiding goddess. 
The gallant yeomen of Loudon County had offered to 



256 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

bear lier away under an escort of light-horse to a safe 
retreat beyond the mountains, but she declined, saying 
she apprehended nothing. " My father's at the helm," 
said the young sailor in the story ; and the chief lady 
in the land had just such a trust in the judgment of her 
husband. If he had no fears for her, why should she 
have any for herself? 

The agent at Mount Vernon, too, thought there was 
no danger, but wrote to Washington, " You may de- 
pend I will be watchful, and, upon the least alarm, 
persuade her to move." 

This agent was a Washington too, — Mr. Lund Wash- 
ington, — but not a relative, so far as we can discover. 
His employer had the most generous confidence in him. 
" I should do you injustice," writes he from Cambridge, 
in the dark and troublesome times, " were I not to 
acknowledge that your conduct has ever appeared to 
me above every thing sordid ; but I offer it — (larger 
pay), in consideration of the great charge you have 
upon your hands, and my entire dependence upon your 
fidelity and industry. It is the greatest, indeed the 
only comfortable reflection I enjoy on this score, that 
my business is in the hands of a person concerning 
whose integrity I have not a doubt, and on whose care 
I can rely. Were it not for this, 1 should feel very un- 
happy on account of the situation of my affairs. But I 
am persuaded you will do for me as you would for 
yourself." The agent wrote two or three times a month 
without fail, giving the general the most minute infor- 



1776.] ATTENTION TO SMALL THINGS. 257 

mation as to whatever of interest happened on the plan- 
tation. Every arrival of colt or calf, every delinquency 
of Tom or Kitty, was duly noted. Crops and sales, 
visits and accidents, all were chronicled ; and the com- 
mander-in-chief replied to every epistle, and remarked 
on every item, with a particularity that shows how 
dearly and distinctly the home scene was impressed on 
his memory, and how large a portion of his heart it en- 
grossed. He directed the affairs of the plantation with 
as much decision and promptness as he could have 
exercised on the spot ; not a field but he ordered its 
planting, not a broken fence or dilapidated negro-hut 
but was repaired under his direction. 

The constant devotion of his thoughts to business and 
duty, enabled him to find time and place for details 
as well as great affairs. His mind was like a daguerreo- 
type that can, by its truthful obedience, show now the 
shadow of an eyelash, now the perspective of Niagara. 

But even as to home affairs, the safety of his wife 
and the details of economy and management were not 
all that occupied the thoughts of Washington, as he 
stood with keen, all-embracing glance, watching every 
movement of the enemy, on the heights about Boston. 
On the 26th of November, 1775, he wrote a letter to 
his agent, a long letter, in which he said many generous 
and manly things, some of which we have quoted, re- 
specting that agent's fidelity and capacity, and then 
subjoins : 
. " Let the hospitality of the house, with respect to 



258 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

the poor, be kept up. Let no one go hungry away. 
If any of this kind of people should be in want of corn, 
supply their necessities, provided it does not encourage 
them in idleness, and I have no objection to your giving 
my money in charity, to the amount of forty or fifty 
pounds a year, when you think it well bestowed. 
What I mean by having no objection is, that it is my 
desire that it should be done. You are to consider, 
that neither myself nor wife is now in the way to do 
these good offices. In all other respects, I recommend 
to you, and have no doubt of your observing, the 
greatest economy and frugality ; as I suppose you 
know that I do not get a farthing for my services here, 
more than my expenses. It becomes necessary, there- 
fore, for me to be saving at home." And this letter 
was copied, as he says at the close of it — " Not only to 
remind myself of my promises and requests, but others 
also, if any mischance happens to mo." 

Mrs. Washington had hoped to have the general 
home again in the autumn, but as this was now out of 
the question, he wrote for her to come to him, which 
she did, travelling the whole distance in her own car- 
riage-and-four, escorted by her son, Mr. Custis, .then 
newly married. Her husband wrote to his friend Joseph 
Reed : 

" I thank you for your frequent mention of Mrs. 
Washington. I expect that she will be in Philadelphia 
about the time this letter may reach you, on her way 
hither. 



1776.] A month's journey. 259 

" As she and her conducter, who I suppose will be 
Mr. Custis, her son, are perfect strangers to the road, 
the stages, and the proper place to cross Hudson's 
.River, by all means avoiding New York, I shall be 
much obliged by your particular instructions and ad- 
vice to her. 

" I imagine, as the roads are bad and the weather 
cold, her stages must be short, especially as I presume 
her horses will be fatigued ; as when they get to Phila- 
delphia, they will have performed a journey of at least 
four hundred and fifty miles, my express having found 
her among her friends near Williamsburg, one hundred 
and fifty miles below my own house." 

Mrs. Washington's journey took nearly a month, 
partly on account of the reasons here mentioned, and 
partly from the desire of various towns through which 
she passed, to show public honors to the wife of the 
commander-in-chief. He writes to Mr. Reed, after her 
arrival — " I must again express my gratitude for the 
attention shown to Mrs. Washington at Philadelphia. 

" It cannot but be pleasing, although it did, in some 
measure, impede the progress of her journey." 

And again. " I am so much indebted for the civili- 
ties shown to Mrs. Washington on her journey hither, 
that I hardly know how to acknowledge them. Some 
of the enclosed (all of which I beg the favor of you 
to put in the post-office) are directed to that end, and I 
shall be obliged to you for presenting my thanks to the 
command ing officers of the two battalions of Philadel- 



260 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

phia, for the honor done to her and me, as also to any 
others, equally entitled." 

Mrs. Washington wag a woman of retiring manners 
and the plainest taste, and would probably have been 
glad to avoid these public honors ; but she always re- 
ceived them gracefully, and was remarked for her dis- 
cretion and the propriety of her replies. That her style 
was a little formal, may be seen by some letters and 
notes of hers that have been preserved in private fami- 
lies conspicuous at the time. 

Here are two notes to Mrs. "Warren : 

" Cambridge, January 8th, 177G. 

" Mrs. Washington presents her respectful compli- 
ments to Mrs. Warren, and thanks her, most cordially, 
for her polite inquiries, and exceeding kind offer. If 
the exigency of affairs in this camp should make it 
necessary for her to remove, she cannot but esteem it 
a happiness, to have so friendly an invitation as Mrs. 
Warren has given. 

" In the meanwhile, Mrs. Washington cannot help 
wishing for an opportunity of showing every facility in 
her power to Mrs. Warren, at head-quarters, in Cam- 
bridge. 

" The general begs that his best regards may be 
presented to Mrs. Warren, accompanied with his sin- 
cere thanks, for her favorable wishes for his honor and 
success; and joins in wishing Mrs. Warren, the 



1776 d OLD-FASHIONED STYLE. 261 

Speaker, and their family, every happiness that is, or 
can be, derived from an honorable peace." 
" To Mrs. Warren, at Plymouth." 

" Cambridge, April the 2d, 1776. 

" Madam, — You may be assured, that nothing 
would give the general, or me, greater pleasure, than 
to wait upon you at dinner this day ; but his time is so 
totally engrossed by applications from one department 
and another, and by his preparations to depart, — in 
which last, I am also concerned and busy, as indeed all 
the family are, — that it is not in any of our powers to 
accept your polite and friendly invitation. Nor will it 
be in my power, I am persuaded, to thank you, person- 
ally, for the polite attention you have shown me, since 
I came into this Province. 

" I must therefore beg your acceptance of them, in 
this way, and at this time, and that you will be assur- 
ed, that 1 shall hold them in grateful remembrance. 
I am desired by the general, to offer you his sincere 
thanks for your kind wishes, and to present his compli- 
ments, along with Mr. and Mrs. Custis's, and my own, 
to you and Colonel "Warren. 

" With every sentiment of esteem, I am, and shall 
remain to be, your much obliged friend and humble 
servant. 

" To Mrs. Warren at Watertown." 

Mrs. Washington's arrival in camp was the signal 



262 MEM0IKS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

for that of other officers' wives, and caused a great 
change in the face of things. Even the general had 
become rather unpopular with some members of the 
Massachusetts General Court, because he seemed un- 
social, and more absorbed in the great concerns of his 
office than was consistent with the attentions due to 
those important functionaries. But the arrival of Mrs. 
Washington in the " chariot-and-four," and its gay 
" scarlet and white liveries," was like a gleam of sun- 
shine, physical and moral, and soon set all right again. 
She took her place as head of something like a little 
vice-regal court, whose invitations were accepted as 
honors, and whose personal civilities of speech and man- 
ner smoothed the most frowning brows and silenced 
the most inimical tongues — of those who received these, 
favors. As to those who did not, we have no record of 
their opinions ; but it would be safe to conclude that 
they did not entertain an equally high opinion of Gen- 
eral Washington's character and talents, or of Mrs. 
Washington's affability and simple grace of manner, 
with that of the favored few. 

The lady-in-chief had been accustomed to entertain 
company, and knew how to do it well. She fulfilled 
the Bible idea of a good wife, looking well to the ways 
of her household. Her dinners were not perhaps ex- 
actly in the French taste, but she always offered the 
best that could be had, and never considered it beneath 
her dignity to attend to all the duties belonging to a 
plain but liberal hospitality. 



1776.] A VIRGINIA LADY. 263 

The company at head-quarters spoke well of her 
conversation, which, although not abundant, was yet 
pertinent and sensible. She could dexterously avoid a 
j)olitical point when any guest was indiscreet enough 
to set a trap for her opinion, and she was equally capa- 
ble of giving advice to the younger ladies, whom she 
always exhorted to industry and frugality. Knitting 
was her favorite occupation, at least when in company ; 
so much so, that a lady who saw her almost daily du- 
ring the first Presidency, says she does not remember 
ever having seen her, sitting at home, without the in- 
evitable four needles clicking in her fingers. Her 
maid Oney was always at her side, and a lady who 
saw her often, still remembers, that when about to leave 
the room or receive company, she would hand the knit- 
ting to the servant, saying, "There, Oney; tote* that 
away." 

With all her housewifely graces, Mrs. Washington 
was by no means indifferent to the advantages of 
splendor on proper occasions. We have seen how gay 
and abundant must have been her wardrobe when she 
was a young wife at Mount Vernon, and numerous pin- 
cushions and thread-cases,f even now floating about the 
community, left as heir-looms or laid up in lavender for 
favorite granddaughters, by ladies her contemporaries, 
testify to the richness and variety of her costume du- 

* A Southern expression, meaning carry. 

\ One of them, now before the writer, is part of a train of rich satin, 
crimson-striped with white in wreaths and bars, worn, as we are told, 
" over a petticoat of silver tissue." 



°* MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

ring the long period when all eyes were upon her, as 
she stood in the reflected light of the Sun of Liberty. 

Mrs. Grant of Laggan, on seeing Sir Walter and 
Lady Scott together in company, at a time when the 
popularity of Marmion had, as Scott said himself, given 
him -such a breeze "(which seems to be Scotch for 
lift, or elation), that he was nearly off his feet,-said, 
wittily,—" Mr. Scott always seems to me like a class' 
through which the rays of admiration pass without 
sensibly affecting it; but the bit of paper that lies be- 
side it will presently be in a blaze-and no wonder! " 

But Mrs. Washington, a more solid and serious cha- 
racter than Lady Scott, seems wholly to have escaped 
the elation which acts so dangerously upon the weaker 
subject m some cases. Far from exulting in her great 
station, her sole desire, from first to last, was to get back 
to Mount Vernon, which she never quitted without re- 
gret. If not « born to love pigs and chickens," she 
was eminently fitted for quiet, rural life ; and as to hap- 
piness, her highest ideal of it evidently pictured the 
general and herself seated by a cosey fire, Darby and 
Joan fashion, or snugly stowed in the family chariot 
jolting along a Virginia road, to dine with some neigh- 
bor, or attend Pohick church. If we were to give our 
private opinion, we should say that Mrs. Martha Custis 
Washington, with her large fortune, her strong domes- 
tic tastes and affections, and her dutiful commonsense 
character, exercised her full share of influence over the 
commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States 



1776.] CURTAIN LECTURE. 265 

of America. She had a very decided way of speaking, 
when she did speak, and as she never meddled in pub- 
lic affairs, we can easily imagine the general letting her 
have pretty much her own way in every thing else. 

Miss Bremer was told this anecdote : 

" A guest at Mount Vernon happened to sleep in a 

room adjoining that occupied by the President and his 

lady. Late in the evening, when people had retired to 

their various chambers, he heard the lady delivering a 

very animated lecture to her lord and master upon 

something which he had done, that she thought should 

have been done differently. To all this he listened in 

the profoundest silence ; and when she too was silent, 

he opened his lips and spoke, ' Now good sleep to you, 

my dear.' " 
12 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Distress of Boston — Anxieties on both sides — Both actuated by British spirit — Arro- 
gance of the invaders — Burlesque comedy outdone by Genera! Putnam — Failure 
of Lord Percy — Resolve to evacuate the town — Hurried retreat — Triumphal entry 
of American troops. 

During the occupation of Boston by the British, the 
town and its environs presented a most gloomy and dis- 
tressing aspect. War bristled every where. Disease 
and poverty stalked over ruin and devastation. The 
houses occupied by an insolent soldiery ; places of wor- 
ship profaned with reckless indecency ; trade at a stand, 
and fear and sorrow written on every honest face, a 
spectator might have thought the love of liberty on the 
point of giving way to that of life, and a struggle for 
man's dearest rights about to be crushed under force 
and rapine irresistible. 

But when the truth came to be known, it was ascer- 
tained that under all the outward show of insolence 
and bravado, the enemy felt at this very time a discour- 
agement which, had it been suspected, would have 
saved Washington and other patriotic leaders many a 
sleepless night. The watchful and persevering resist- 



1776.] EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSEVERANCE. 267 

ance of the colonists to every attempt at encroachment, 
and the skill with which Washington kept the British 
arm}' at bay, and forced it to remain within its lines, 
nobody on the other side had been prepared for. Ac- 
customed to war with people nnlike themselves, the 
British did not know how formidable was their own 
spirit until they had to contend against it. French im- 
petuosity, or German phlegm they might have coped 
with ; but British determination tired them out, and 
disgusted them with a service in which victory was by 
no means sure to bring glory, while defeat would entail 
a double measure of disgrace. The regiments were 
undergoing constant change, and some of those which 
had been held longest to this harassing duty, had been 
sent home to avoid the ill consequences of their grow- 
ing discontents. 

If the Americans, poorly equipped, and longing to 
be at home and attending to their destitute families, 
desired to bring the contest to a close by some decisive 
action, no less did their enemies, worn out and dispir- 
ited, look for war to the knife as a relief from the te- 
dium of confinement and the discredit of inaction. 
" Battle ! battle ! " was the dreadful cry, and when this 
cry arises at once from two hostile armies, the dogs of 
war are not far off, and havoc and destruction follow 
at no lingering pace. 

But in our case a kind Providence was pleased to 
avert the most horrid aspect of war, and to spare our 



268 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [177fi. 

country the loss and anguish that would have resulted 
from a bloody battle between forces in such a temper. 

It was just at this juncture, and doubtless w T ith a 
view of keeping up the spirits of officers and men, 
weary and impatient as they were of their forced so- 
journ in Boston, that a burlesque comedy, written, it 
is said, by General Burgoyne, was prepared for the 
stage, and played by an amateur company, in a theatre 
which the officers had erected for such amusements. 
The piece w r as called " The Blockade of Boston ; " and 
its object was to pour every species of contempt upon 
the Yankee rebels, while the valor, the spirit, and the 
elegance of British soldiers was displayed to the great- 
est advantage. General Washington, of course, figured 
in the plot, and he was represented as a great awkward 
lout, with a wig, an old rusty sword, and a firelock 
seven or eight feet long. The thing was going on finely, 
and roars of laughter at the rusticity, meanness and 
cowardice of the rebels shook the house at every sally 
of the author's wit. 

Meanwhile General Putnam, acting a drama of real 
life, was sending a party to surprise the British guard 
on Cobble Hill. This was at once announced at the 
theatre, where both officers and men were assembled, 
but all thought the words a part of the play, till Gen- 
eral Howe, who was present, gave the order — " Offi- 
cers ! to your alarm posts ! " 

This caused a general scamper, with the usual ac- 



1776.] MAGICAL CELERITY. 269 

companiments of screaming and fainting ladies, and 
every circumstance of panic* 

The morning dawned on new works thrown up by 
the rebels; and the celerity and secrecy with which 
these things were accomplished, discouraged the enemy 
much more than any thing formidable in the works 
themselves. It was the skill and spirit of the people, 
under so many disadvantages, that rendered the task 
of subduing them less and less hopeful, and every day's 
operations brought the struggle faster and faster to a 
close. " The rebels have done more in a single night," 
said General Howe, " than my whole army would have 
done in a month." Another observed, " It must have 
been the employment of at least twelve thousand men." 
One of the officers wrote home, speaking of the new 
works, " They were raised with an expedition equal to 
that of the Genii belonging to Aladdin's Wonderful 
Lamp." 

The truth was, General Washington, ever on the 
alert, and having in vain attempted a bombardment, — 
which had proved more destructive to his own men 
than to the enemy, owing to the bad quality of the ar- 
tillery, — had managed, in a single night, to throw up a 
fort on Dorchester Hill, commanding the enemy's po- 
sition to such an extent as to occasion great consterna- 
tion in the British camp, when the rising sun disclosed 
what had been accomplished under the veil of darkness. 
The admiral at once giving notice, that unless the 

* Irving, vol. II. —p. 176. 



270 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

Americans were dislodged from the new redoubt, his 
majesty's fleet must immediately evacuate the harbor, 
Lord Howe sent some three thousand men, with Lord 
Percy at their head, to attempt the operation. The 
greatest interest was felt, and all Boston was watching 
the result. The surrounding heights were crowded 
with spectators, anticipating a repetition of the scenes 
of Bunker Hill. When Washington came upon the 
ground, he addressed the soldiers, and said solemnly, 
" Remember this is the fifth of March," thus recalling 
to their memory the Boston massacre of 1770. 

But a storm of rain and wind, which came up in 
the afternoon, frustrated the plans of both parties. 
Washington, who had expected a battle, felt disap- 
pointed that the issue was again delayed. " The event," 
he says, " must, I think, have been fortunate, and noth- 
ing less than success and victory on our side, as our 
officers and men appeared impatient for the appeal, and 
to possess the most animated sentiments and determined 
resolution." 

There was but a single alternative now left to the 
British commander. He must drive the Americans 
from the works, or evacuate the town. He called a 
council of war, who deliberated anxiously upon the 
course to be pursued, but in the end concluded to sac- 
rifice pride to prudence, and relinquish Boston, with 
whatever mortification, to the despised rebels, who 
showed such a stubborn determination to possess it. 

The unhappy inhabitants feared that their town 






971 

1776.] BRITISH LEAVE BOSTON. * ' x 

WQuld be burnt by the retreating invaders ; but Gen- 
eral Howe sent unofficial word to General Washington, 
that on condition his troops were suffered to depart un- 
molested, he would agree to spare the town. On the 
observance of this compact, hung its fate and that ot 
its inhabitants, who were trembling at once for life and 
living. The noble John Hancock, who had great pos- 
sessions, urged Washington to do whatever seemed best 
for the common cause, although he himself might be 
the greatest loser. But Washington never willingly, 
or for the sake of revenge, caused unnecessary loss or 
distress, and not a shot was tired after the flying enemy, 
although it was hard to refrain, especially as Lord 
Howe had by no means succeeded-if indeed he made 
the effort-in preventing very serious injury to persons 
and property. The soldiers broke open many stores, 
which they despoiled of their contents ; seized and 
robbed vessels at the wharves ; defaced the furniture m 
private houses, and did what other harm they dared, 
although a general conflagration was prevented. 

The British spiked their largest cannon, and at- 
tempted by some other precautions to avoid strength- 
ening the hands of their enemies, but the retreat was 
made with every mark of the greatest precipitation. 
The barracks at Bunker Hill, and many other wooden 
buildings, were left standing, and there was no attempt 
to destroy any considerable portion of the British lines 
of defence. All was hurry and confusion ; and to get 
away from a spot which had been the scene only ot 



MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON L1776 

nson. icueai oi tiie gar- 

~„ S^S^XS r ports ' flua% 

-non and other ^^J^ ™ d « « »f 

being at that time in the to™ W ' "^'^ 

eral Putnam wirt, I ' Washm S'on sent Gen- 

bad th I ;I ' t ousanc! picketI men wli ° had «» 

e aisease, to take possession, deferring h;„ 
P»W» -d formal entrance nntii the „e I r T" 
he was received witT, « , y ' when 

rained in tie pit 7 de " ati <» of jov thtf 
Much damage C t l™* "? ""^ t01 ™- 

>— ™;;r d jrrTr* be-d - ,ta - 

Bntallwas now forgotten in f h T Pl " P ° Se - 

an dg ratit„de,an d ;r ;:~ S f SfeCti0n 
took the DlarP nfoi thanksgivings 

■nerit was tl hole „T" S "* inS "" S - ^^ 
of every hea t 2 >' ^^ ™ d th ° "'onght 

^nctive aspect of war for "f^ "* '" 

every step of «,. ' Wh ° had oritic ''sed 

7 ^ep ot the process, conld not deny the excel- 



1776.] PUBLIC GRATITUDE. 273 

lence of the result, or its justification of the means em- 
ployed. 

Congress was profuse in its acknowledgments, and 
as an enduring memorial of its approbation, ordered a 
gold medal to be struck, on one side of which was an 
emblematical device, and on the other a head of Wash- 
ington, surrounded by a complimentary inscription. 

Washington accepted the praise and its commemo- 
ration with his usual self respecting modesty ; declaring, 
however, that he had only done his duty, and that he 
desired no other reward than that of his own con- 
science, and the feeling that his services might have 
contributed to " the establishment of freedom and peace 
upon a permanent foundation." 

He concludes his reply to the address of the Gen- 
eral Assembly of Massachusetts : — ■ 

" May that Being who is powerful to save, and in 
whose hands is the fate of nations, look down with an 
eye of tender pity and compassion upon the whole of 
the United Colonies ; may he continue to smile upon 
their counsels and arms, and crown them with success, 
whilst employed in the cause of virtue and mankind. 
May this distressed colony and its capital, and every 
part of this wide extended continent, through His di- 
vine favor, be restored to more than their former lustre 
and once happy state, and have peace, liberty, and 
safety secured upon a solid, permanent, and lasting 
foundation." 

The enemy once huddled into his ships, the next 
12* 



274 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [ l776 - 

question was — u What is his destination ? " Every 
point of the coast expected an attack. Washington 
believed New York to be the most probable point, and 
by the time the British were afloat, had made all his 
arrangements for transferring twelve regiments of the 
Continental forces thither. His agent at Mount Ver- 
non made every preparation for their reception there, 
as the Potomac is navigable for the largest ships, and 
the idea of Washington's possessions being a probable 
object of attack was still prevailing. 

Mr. Lund Washington writes to his employer : 
" Alexandria is much alarmed, and indeed the 
whole neighborhood. The women and children are 
leaving the town, and stowing themselves in every hut 
they can find, out of the reach of the enemy's cannon. 
Every cart, wagon, and pack-horse that can be got, is 
employed. The militia are all up, but not in arms, for 
indeed they have none, or at least very few. I could 
wish, if we are to have o"ur neighborhood invaded, that 
they would send a tender or two among us, that we 
might see how the people would behave on the occasion. 
" They say they are determined to fight. I am about 
packing up your china and glass in barrels, and other 
things into chests, trunks, and bundles, and I shall be 
able at the shortest notice to remove them out of the 
way. I fear the destruction will be great, although the 
best care has been taken. Every body I see tells me, 
that if the people could have notice, they would imine- 



1776.] STRONG EXPRESSIONS AGAINST TEAITOES. 275 

diately come and defend your property, so long as they 
have life." 

Those called government-men, in Boston, to the 
amount of one thousand, fled with the enemy, fearing 
the vengeance of the victorious army. Judging from 
Washington's expressions, they did wisely, for his in- 
dignation burns hot against them. 

" One or two of them," he says in a letter to his 
brother, " have done, what a great number ought to 
have done long ago, committed suicide. By all ac- 
counts, there never existed a more miserable set of 
beings, than these wretched creatures now are. Taught 
to believe that the power of Great Britain was superior 
to all opposition, and, if not, that foreign aid was at 
hand, they were even higher and more insulting in their 
opposition than the regulars. When the order issued, 
therefore, for embarking the troops in Boston, no elec- 
tric shock, no sudden explosion of thunder, in a word, 
not the last trump, could have struck them with greater 
consternation. They were at their wits' end, and, con- 
scious of their black ingratitude, they chose to commit 
themselves, in the manner I have above described, to 
the mercy of the waves at a tempestuous season, rather 
than meet their offended countrymen." 

Washington thus sums up his difficulties, in the same 
letter to his brother John Augustine : 

" I believe I may with great truth affirm, that no 
man perhaps, since the first institution of armies, ever 
commanded one under more difficult circumstances 



276 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

than I have done. To enumerate the particulars would 
fill a volume. 

" Many of my difficulties and distresses were of so 
peculiar a cast, that, in order to conceal them from the 
enemy, I was obliged to conceal them from my friends? 
and indeed from my own army, thereby subjecting my 
conduct to interpretations unfavorable to my character, 
especially by those at a distance, who could not in the 
smallest degree be acquainted with the springs that 
governed it. I am happy, however, to find, and to hear 
from different quarters, that my rejmtation stands fair, 
that my conduct hitherto has given universal satisfac- 
tion. The addresses which I have received, and which 
I suppose will be published, from the General Court of 
this colony and from the selectmen of Boston, upon the 
evacuation of the town, and my approaching departure 
from the colony, exhibit a pleasing testimony of their 
approbation of my conduct, and of their personal re- 
gard, which I have found in various other instances, 
and which, in retirement, will afford many comfortable 
reflections." 

An amusing letter of the same period from General 
Lee to Washington, shows at once the character of that 
accomplished, impetuous and imprudent soldier, and the 
mystery that hung over the intentions of the British. 

" I most sincerely congratulate you, I congratulate 
the public, on the great and glorious event, your pos- 
session of Boston. It will be a most bright page in 
the annals of America, and a most abominably black 



1776.] GENERAL LEE's LETTER. 277 

oue in those of the beldam Britain. Go on, my dear 
general, crown yourself with glory, and establish the 
liberties and lustre of your country on a foundation 
more permanent than the Capitol Rock. 

" My situation is just as I expected. I am afraid I 
shall make a shabby figure, without any real demerits 
of my own. I am like a dog in a dancing school. I 
know not where to turn myself, where to fix myself. 
The circumstances of the country intersected by navi- 
gable rivers, the uncertainty of the enemy's design and 
motions, who can fly in an instant to any spot they 
choose, with their canvas wings, throw me, and would 
throw Julius Csesar, into this inevitable dilemma. I 
may possibly be in the north, when, as Richard says, I 
should serve my sovereign in the west. I can only act 
from surmise, and I have a very good chance of sur- 
mising wrong. I am sorry to grate your ears with a 
truth, but must at all events assure you, that the Pro- 
vincial Congress of Kew York are angels of decision, 
when compared with your countrymen, the Committee 
of Safety assembled at Williamsburg. Page, Lee, Mer- 
cer, and Payne are indeed exceptions ; but from Pen- 
dleton, Bland, the Treasurer, and company, libera nos, 
DomineP 

General Lee stood high in Washington's esteem at 
this time, though the chief in a measure foresaw the 
difficulty that would arise from his peculiarities. 
He says of him, " He is the first officer, in knowledge 
and experience, we have in the whole army. He is 



278 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

zealously attached to the cause, honest and well-mean- 
ing, but rather tickle and violent, I fear, in his temper." 
Washington seems to have replied to every appeal 
made to him by prisoners of war, in the kindest tone. 
As one of many letters of this kind take the following : 

" To Captain Samuel McKay. 

"New Haven, 11th April, 1776. 

" Sir, — I received yours of the 9th instant, and could 
wish that it was in my power, consistently with the 
duty I owe my country, to grant you the relief you de- 
sire. I have made repeated applications to General 
Howe for an exchange of prisoners, but he has not 
thought proper to return me any answer. It has been 
in his power to set you at liberty ; and if you are still 
continued a prisoner, the blame must lie entirely upon 
him. 

" The situation of your family is indeed distressing; 
but such is the event of war ; it is far from being singu- 
lar. The brave Colonel Allen, an officer of rank, has 
been torn from his dearest connections, sent to England 
in irons, and is now confined to the most servile drudg- 
ery, on board one of the king's ships. 

" Your treatment, sir, and that of the other officers 
taken in arms against the liberties of America, has been 
very different ; for the truth of this I appeal to your 
own feelings. 

" Whenever it is in my power to release you by a 
mutual exchange, I shall do it with the greatest plea- 
sure ; and am, sir, your most obedient servant." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Transfer of the troops to New York — Difficulties there — Machinations of the Tories 
—British head-quarters on Staten Island — Declaration of Independence— Letter 
to " George Washington, Esq." — Battle of Long Island— Dreadful loss— Retreat 
across the East Biver. 

The position of the army at New York, at which place 
it arrived on the 13th of April, presented no fewer 
difficulties to the commander-in-chief than his late po- 
sition had done, and he was obliged to enter at once 
into warm discussions with the civil authorities there. 
But his prudence, and the respect with which he inva- 
riably treated those authorities wherever he went, soon 
conciliated them and secured their co-operation. 

The city and vicinity abounded with those who fa- 
vored the enemy as far as they dared, and Governor 
Tryon was the centre of a secret faction, determined to 
accomplish by treachery what they had not present 
means to attempt openly. Congress was undecided and 
timid, some of its members still expecting and hoping 
for a reconciliation with Great Britain. Washington, 
fully aware of all these unhappy influences, set himself at 
work vigorously to bring them to light and to crush trea- 



280 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

son in its beginnings. Upon his representations sus- 
pected persons were taken in hand by the civil power, 
and many were disarmed while others were imprisoned. 
In the course of these investigations, it was discovered 
that part of the general's guards were traitors, and that 
there was a plot on foot to carry off Washington him- 
self and deliver him to the enemy. 

The British forces were collecting in the harbor of 
New York, and General Howe had established his 
head-quarters on Staten Island, at different parts of 
which some ten thousand men were posted, when 
Washington received from Congress the Declaration of 
Independence, which was on the evening of the same 
day read to the troops, who were paraded for the pur- 
pose. This decisive step raised the spirits of all, and 
the soldiers rent the air with acclamations. 

The general took the opportunity, in the orders for 
the day, to impress upon them anew the responsibility 
that rested with them, adding, " The peace and safety 
of the country depend, under God, solely on the success 
of our arms." 

Military preparations went on, on both sides, through 
the summer. General Howe's forces, which had in- 
creased to about twenty -five thousand men, far outnum- 
bered those of Washington, which were posted in New 
York and on Long Island. 

On the 14th of July, Admiral Lord Howe, who had 
arrived with a numerous and powerful fleet to co-ope- 
rate with his brother, the general, sent a flag to Wash- 



J 776.] MILITARY ETIQUETTE. 281 

ington, with a letter directed to " George Washington, 
Esq." Colonel Reed answered, by the general's order, 
that there was no such person known in the army. 
The officer who brought the letter was very anxious to 
have it received, and hinted that it contained matter 
of great importance, Lord Howe having great powers 
from his government, etc. ; all which was of no avail, and 
the letter was returned. After the boat had started, it 
was put back, the bearer of the letter desiring to know by 
what title Mr. "Washington chose to be addressed. Col- 
onel Reed replied that General Washington's station 
was well known, and Lord Howe could certainly be at 
no loss as to the proper address. 

The officer lingered and urged, but the decision 
was firm, and he departed as he came. Lord Howe 
now sent to inquire whether his adjutant-general, Colo- 
nel Paterson, could be admitted to an interview with 
General Washington ; this was granted, and the British 
colonel was ushered by Colonel Reed and Colonel 
Wells into the presence of the commander-in-chief, 
who received him in grand military array, with his offi- 
cers and guards about him, and whatever else could 
add to his own native dignity that which belonged to 
his high station. Colonel Paterson addressed him 
with great respect, using the title of Your Excellency, 
but still withholding the required title of General, al- 
though he was the bearer of another letter, directed 
George Washington, Esq., &c, &c, &c. Washington 
must have smiled inwardly at this childish expedient, 



282 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

but lie replied with his usual gravity and decision, that 
the point remained untouched ; " That etc., etc.," 
which meant " every thing," according to the colonel's 
pleaded reason, meant also nothing, and did not change 
the case at all. 

Colonel Paterson then endeavored to communicate, 
as well as he could in the course of a desultory conver- 
sation, the purport of the letter. Washington replied, 
that as far as he could understand, Lord Howe's power 
extended only to granting pardons, and as Americans 
battling for their rights required no pardons, there was 
little use in arguing the matter. So the emissary re- 
turned as he came, having seen the commander-in-chief, 
and whatever he had passed going and coming, the 
usual ceremony of blindfolding having been dispensed 
with in his case. 

Congress highly approved the conduct of Washing- 
ton in this matter, and recommended it as an example 
to any or all the officers who might be placed in simi- 
lar situations. 

After many false alarms, it was ascertained that the 
enemy had landed on Long Island, at a point between 
the Narrows and Sandy Hook. 

About three o'clock on the 27th of August, the 
British were in motion, and before long the battle be- 
gan; Lords Percy and Cornwallis, with Sir Henry Clin- 
ton, commanding on the British side, and General Sul- 
livan and Lord Stirling on the American. The issue 
of the day was any thing but fortunate for the Conti- 






1776.] SAD TIMES, SAD HEARTS. 283 

nentals, who lost, in killed, wounded and taken prison- 
er, about eleven hundred men. 

The British force was at least fifteen thousand strong, 
well furnished with artillery ; while the Americans 
mustered only about five thousand, poorly enough pro- 
vided in all respects, and without even a single com- 
pany of cavalry. Washington, stationed on a hill, 
swept the whole field with his telescope, and watched 
the result with breathless anxiety. From what he saw, 
he anticipated the immediate surrender of Stirling and 
his troops. But when he saw that instead of retreat 
or surrender, Stirling attacked Lord Cornwallis under 
the most desperate disadvantage, he wrung his hands 
in agony at the sight. " Good God," • said he, "what 
brave fellows must I this day lose ! "* His worst anti- 
cipations were realized. 

Every thing had gone against his troops, and noth- 
ing had been gained but experience. 

That night was one of cruel anxiety and suffering ; 
the men weary, sick and wounded ; the commander-in- 
chief going about among them, to say whatever could 
be said by way of consolation and encouragement, and 
to make what preparations could be made for the strug- 
gle of the morrow. 

He had witnessed the rout and slaughter of his 
troops with the keenest anguish ; it was now his office 
to inspirit them for a new effort, against superior force, 
and in the face of a victorious enemy. 

* Irving, Vol. II, p. 324. 



284 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. C 1776 - 

The sentries of the two armies could hear each other 
speak, so near had the lines approached. 

The dawn of day brought a violent rain, which pre- 
vented the enemy from going on with the projected 
intrenchments, and nothing more than skirmishing was 
attempted through the day. 

The next morning there was a dense fog. When 
this was, for a moment, lifted by a light breeze, the 
British fleet was observed to be in a sort of bustle, 
boats passing to and fro, as if some movement was in 
contemplation. Those who were on the look-out con- 
jectured that the fleet was about to come up and an- 
chor in the East River-, thus checkmating the army on 
Long Island. 

Washington called a council of war, and it was at 
once decided thai the troops must if possible be taken 
back to New York under cover of the night. Nine 
thousand men, with baggage and artillery, to be spir- 
ited away from the very front of a victorious army, 
capable of annihilating them if the alarm should be 
given ! 

But it was done under the eye of Washington, who 
was at the ferry during the entire operation. The fog 
favored the withdrawal of the men from the lines, and 
the whole body was at last embarked and ferried over, 
just before daybreak, so that the last boats passed in 
full view of the enemy. Washington crossed the river 
with the very latest. This retreat was one of his great- 
est achievements. At no period of the war, probably, 



1776.] FATIGUE AM> SORROW. 285 

did lie suffer more intense anxiety, or undergo more 
exertion, than on the occasion of this early and disas- 
trous defeat ; and in no subsequent emergency did he 
find a better opportunity for the display of his peculiar 
talents. 

It is almost the only time when he has to apologize 
to the President of Congress for not having written 
i in mediately on the occurrence of any thing impor- 
tant. 

lie says in the despatch of August 31st, four days 
after the battle : — 

" New York, 3\st August, 1776. 
" Sir,— Inclination as well as duty would have in- 
duced me to give Congress the earliest information of 
my removal, and that of the troops, from Long Island 
and its dependencies to this city, the night before last; 
but the extreme fatigue which myself and family have 
undergone, as much from the weather since, as the en- 
gagement on the 27th, rendered me and them entirely 
unfit to take pen in hand. Since Monday scarce any 
of us have been out of the lines, till our passage across 
the East River was effected yesterday morning ; and, 
for forty-eight hours preceding that, I had hardly been 
off my horse, and never closed my eyes ; so that I was 
quite unfit to write or dictate till this morning." 

The letter goes on to state particulars, in a tone of 



286 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

sadness which shows that the aspect of things was at 
the moment very discouraging. He writes again : — 

" September 2d, 1776. 

" Sir, — As my intelligence of late has been rather 
unfavorable, and would be received with anxiety and 
concern, peculiarly happy should I esteem myself, were 
it in my power at this time to transmit such informa- 
tion to Congress, as would be more pleasing and agree- 
able to their wishes ; but, unfortunately for me, unfor- 
tunately for them, it is not. Our situation is truly 
distressing. The check our detachment sustained on 
the 27th ultimo, has dispirited too great a proportion 
of our troops, and filled their minds with apprehension 
and despair." 

It very soon became evident that the enemy meant, 
with the aid of their naval force, to enclose the island 
of New York, cut off communication with the country, 
and thus force the Americans to a surrender. 

The question was agitated whether it would be bet- 
ter to burn the town or to evacuate it, and the inhabi- 
tants had the agreeable consciousness that as two-thirds, 
at least, of their number were supposed to be tories, 
the settlement of the course to be pursued would be 
very little influenced by consideration for them or their 
property. The decision was, however, favorable so far 
as the destruction of the town was concerned. Con- 
gress forbade all injury to it, hoping it would ultimately 



1776.] CANNON MAKE NO DISCRIMINATIONS. 287 

be restored, even although it should for a time be used 
by the enemy for his advantage. 

The inhabitants, however, suffered continual alarms 
from the cannonading by the ships-of-war that lay in 
both rivers and in the bay. A private letter quoted 
by Mr. Irving, gives a vivid picture of the state of 
things : — 

" On the 13th of September, just after dinner, three 
frigates and a forty-gun-ship sailed up the East River 
with a gentle breeze, toward Hell Gate, and kept up 
an incessant fire, assisted by the cannon at Governor's 
Island. The batteries of the city returned the ships 
the like salutation. 

" Three men agape, idle spectators, had the misfor- 
tune of being killed by one cannon ball. One shot 
struck within six feet of General Washington, as he 
was on horseback, riding into the fort." 

With all this, the commander-in-chief had the mor- 
tification of knowing that he could not depend upon 
all his soldiers. 

He writes, Sept. 9, 17T6 : — 

" I fear the militia, by leaving their homes so sud- 
denly, and in a manner unprepared for a long absence, 
have sustained some injury. To this cause I must im- 
pute their impatience to return, &c. Their want of 
discipline, the indulgencies they claim and have been 
allowed, their unwillingness — I may add refusal — to 
submit to that regularity and order essential in every 
army, have been of pernicious tendency, and occa- 



288 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

sioned a good deal of confusion and disorder. As to 
drafting seamen from the Continental regiments, it 
cannot be done ; as their numbers have been reduced 
so low already that some of them have hardly any 
thing left but the name. Besides, I must depend chiefly 
upon them for a successful opposition to the enemy." 



CHAPTEE XXYI. 

Discouragement of the army— General Howe threatens New York — Talk of burning 
the city — "Washington fortifies Harlem — Cowardice of some of the troops there — 
Eetreat to White Plains — Illiterate officers — Disaster there — Capture of Fort 
"Washington — Temporary defection of Colonel Reed. 

The terrible result of the battle of Long Island could 
not be forgotten in the splendor of the retreat, by 
which all that human skill and effort could do had 
been done to retrieve it. The army felt the defeat and 
the slaughter of their brave comrades with a keenness 
unknown to veterans in the art of war, who learn to re- 
gard fellow-soldiers more in the light of machines and 
less in that of fellow-citizens. Washington wrote to 
Congress that the minds of the troops were filled with 
apprehension and despair. The militia, in particular, 
deserted by hundreds, and their example still further 
disaffected the other part of the army. He adds that 
the number of troops fit for duty is less than twenty 
thousand, and it proved scarcely more than eleven 
thousand. 

General Howe, with a superior force, now theatening 
New York, it became Washington's care to devise means 
13 



290 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

for evacuating the city which he had not means to de- 
fend. To drive General Howe to a bombardment, to 
which the city was completely open, would be but 
wanton sacrifice of life and property, since the result 
could be no other. Some proposed the voluntary de- 
struction of the city, to prevent the enemy from using 
it as winter- quarters, and this was the more easily con- 
templated as two thirds of the property in it was esti- 
mated to belong to the tories, or adherents of the 
British government. 

But milder and more prudent counsels prevailed, 
and it was finally resolved to leave the town and retire 
to the rocky heights north of it, on the upper part of the 
island, making that position as strong as possible, with 
a view to the prevention of the enemy's movements on 
either the North or the East River. 

On the 15th of September, the enemy, from his 
ships, attacked Kipp's Bay on the East River. The 
troops stationed there fled in the greatest confusion, 
notwithstanding every effort on the part of their officers. 
General Washington, who was at Harlem when the firing 
commenced, galloped over to the scene as fast as his 
horse could carry him, and there to his infinite mortifi- 
cation and distress, found all his fears of the instability 
of the army confirmed by the dastardly behavior of these 
men. Here his native passion flashed out. He rode 
furiously up in the face of the flying troops, shouted to 
them, ordered them to return and face the enemy with 
him, and when he found all useless, drew his sword and 



1776.] DISHEARTENING CIRCUMSTANCES. 291 

threatened them, snapped his pistols in their faces, and 
at last halted his horse within the fire of the enemy, as 
if courting death to relieve him of the sense of dishonor. 
Seeing him thus transported out of himself, and in the 
very teeth of danger, one of his aids seized the bridle 
of his horse, and forced him from the spot. 

He never showed any sense of personal danger, but 
his feelings when disgrace occurred were of the keenest 
kind. He wrote to his brother of this affair, speaking 
of the desertions and other discouraging circumstances, 
— " It is not in the power of words to describe the task 
I have to perform. Fifty thousand pounds would not 
induce me again to undergo what I have done." 

In a letter to the President of Congress, written, as 
lie says at the beginning, in hours borrowed from those 
allotted to sleep, "Washington thus describes the situa- 
tion of the army. 

" As the war must be carried on systematically, and 
to do it you must have good officers, there are no other 
possible means to obtain them but by establishing your 
army upon a permanent footing, and giving your officers 
good pay. This will induce gentlemen and men of cha- 
racter to engage ; and, till the bulk of your officers is 
composed of such persons as are actuated by principles 
of honor and a spirit of enterprise, you have little to ex- 
pect from them. They ought to have such allowances, 
as will enable them to live like and support the charac- 
ter of gentlemen, and not be driven by a scanty pit- 
tance to the low and dirty arts which many of them 



292 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

practise, to filch from the public more than the differ- 
ence of pay would amount to, upon an ample allowance. 
Besides, something is due to the man who puts his life 
in your hands, hazards his health, and forsakes the 
sweets of domestic enjoyment. 

" But while the only merit an officer possesses is his 
ability to raise men ; while those men consider and treat 
him as an equal, and, in the character of an officer, re- 
gard him no more than a broomstick, being mixed to- 
gether as one common herd, no order or discipline can 
prevail ; nor will the officer ever meet with that respect 
which is essentially necessary to due subordination. 

" Of late a practice prevails of the most alarming 
nature, and which will, if it cannot be checked, prove 
fatal to both the country and the army ; I mean the in- 
famous practice of plundering. For under the idea of 
tory property, or property that may fall into the hands 
of the enemy, no man is secure in his effects, and 
scarcely in his person. In order to get at them, we 
have several instances of people being frightened out 
of their houses, under pretence of those houses being 
ordered to be burnt, and this is done with a view of 
seizing the goods ; nay, in order that the villainy may 
be more effectually concealed, some houses have ac- 
tually been burnt, to cover the theft. I have, with 
some others, used my utmost endeavors to stop this hor- 
rid practice ; but under the present lust after plunder, 
and want of laws to punish offenders, I might almost as 
well attempt to move Mount Atlas. I have ordered in- 



1776.] INDIGNATION AGAINST PLUNDERERS. 293 

stant corporal punishment upon every man, who passes 
our lines, or is seen with plunder, that the offenders 
may be punished for disobedience of orders; and I en- 
close to you the proceedings of a court-martial held 
upon an officer, who, with a party of men, had robbed 
a house a little beyond our lines, of a number of valuable 
goods, among which (to show that nothing escaped) 
were four large pier looking-glasses, women's clothes, 
and other articles, which, one would think, could be of 
no earthly use to him. He was met by a major of 
brigade, who ordered him to return the goods, as taken 
contrary to general orders, which he not only refused 
to do, but drew up his party, and swore he would de- 
fend them at the hazard of his life ; on which I ordered 
him to be arrested, tried for plundering, disobedience 
of orders, and mutiny. 

" An army formed of good officers moves like clock- 
work ; but there is no situation upon earth less enviable, 
or more distressing, than that person's, who is at the 
head of troops regardless of order and discipline, and 
unprovided with almost every necessary. In a word, 
the difficulties which have for ever surrounded me 
since I have been in the service, and kept my mind 
constantly upon the stretch, the wounds which my feel- 
ings as an officer have received by a thousand things 
that have happened contrary to my expectation* and 
wishes ; the effect of my own conduct, and present ap- 
pearance of things, so little pleasing to myself, as to 
render it a matter of no surprise to me if I should stand 



294 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

capitally censured by Congress ; added to a conscious- 
ness of my inability to govern an army composed of 
sucli discordant parts, and under sucli a variety of in- 
tricate and perplexing circumstances, induce not only 
a belief, but a thorough conviction in my mind, that it 
will be impossible, unless there is a thorough change in 
our military system, for me to conduct matters in such 
a manner as to give satisfaction to the public, which is 
all the recompense I aim at, or ever wished for." 

These extracts are introduced to give in the most 
concise form, some idea of the state of things, and the 
difficulties over which the patience, courage and wisdom 
of our patriot fathers triumphed. 

There was a small success at Harlem on the 16th of 
September, which served in some trifling degree to in- 
spirit the troops ; but two of their best officers. Colonel 
Knowlton and Major Leitch were killed there, and fifty 
others killed and wounded. Washington went on forti- 
fying Harlem Heights, and Lord Howe forbore fur- 
ther attack for several weeks, waiting for the arrival of 
some troops which he expected. When the enemy 
sailed up the East River and threatened the works from 
that side, while other ships-of-war lay in the Hudson 
ready to co-operate with them, General Washington 
drew his army further north, and formed a camp on the 
west side of Bronx River, at White Plains. 

While he is awaiting the attack of Sir William Howe, 
(lately knighted by Geo. HI.), let us look at a specimen 
of the cultivation of some of the officers on whose co- 



1776.] "PAROLES" AND COUNTERSIGNS. 295 

operation lie was to depend in those times of emergency. 
We may hope that few of them were so totally un- 
educated as this writer. 

* " H ro?E=; \ ** ». «iv*«. *—■ 

" C. S. Bedford. 

" The Major of Briggade will attend Daly att 12 
o'Clock for orders. — there puntially to meet and make 
there Weekly Returns at orderly time on Saturdays the 
Poroles and Counter-signs Will be Delivered to them 
Sealed which they are not to Open untill a Retreet 
Beating when they ar to communicait to the Field 
Officer of their Respective Ridgments. The Soldiers 
are not to Be out of their Respective Quarters after 
Tattue Beate, 

as theire is the Greatest probbility that the troops 
May Soon be Canled to Action and the Major General 
Desires That the Commanding officers of the Ridgments 
and Corps will take affectual Care that Each man has 
his Complement of Ammunition and that arme be fre- 
quantly inspected the Men of Duty Should be Daly 
Exercised and the Recrutes be Carefully Instructed in 
the Different parts of their Duty." 

"Head-Quarters, > mh A m6 
King s Bridge, ) * 

("JPorole Coneticut Counter-sign Luddingham) Com- 
plaint has Been made of fields and Garclains Being Pil- 

* Copied from a manuscript order book, belonging to Mr. Tomlinson, 
who possesses a large Collection of Revolutionary Papers, u Porol" stands 
for parole, and " C. S." for countersign. 



296 MEMOIRS OF "WASHINGTON. [1776. 

ford Morocling Pilfforcling are a Disgrace to War my 
and on Restrained an army becomes a Scourge Instead 
of a Protection to the Inhabitents and is Commonly 
followed With the implication of Undun Business. 
The Major General Doth therefore most Strictly forbid 
all Such unjust practice and offenders if Apprehended 
will be severely Punished the Inhabitents are to be 
treated with Gentealness and their affections one By an 
Orderly & solder Like Behavour.) 

" The Firing of Guns Without Special occation is 
Strectly forbiden in this Campt and it will not be amiss 
to Inform this Division that his Exilintsy General 
Washington has Given orders that Six Coppers for 
Each Cartridge which Shall be waisted shall be Stoped 
out of the pay of Shuch Soldier as shall offend in this 
Particular the Cartridges are to be Drawn if possible 
and Such as Cannot are to be Discharged under the 
Direction of an officer Altogether which will prevent 
and on Soldier Like poping of Guns Around the 
Camp." 

A good deal more of the same sort gives us but a 
poor idea of the intelligence of the force on whom 
Washington was to depend, when, on the 28th of Oc- 
tober, the British army came in view, within two miles 
of Washington's camp. Severe skirmishes ensued, and 
in the end the enemy drove our troops from the works, 
and would have pursued their advantage but for a very 
heavy rain wmich rendered military movements impos- 
sible. 



1776 LOSS OF FORT WASHINGTON. 297 

General "Washington availed himself of the delay to 
withdraw his men to a more secure position, and this 
was accomplished so well, that the enemy never sus- 
pected it until they found it past counteracting. Gen- 
eral Howe now despaired of a battle, and turned his at- 
tention to the capture of Fort Washington, on the Hud- 
son, which with its garrison of three thousand men, and 
a great Quantity of stores, fell into the hands of the 
enemy. This was the most terrible blow we had yet 
sustained, and the British feeling of triumph knew no 
bounds, decided successes on their part having been 
thus far very rare. 

Again on this occasion "Washington, who viewed 
the fight from the opposite shore of the Hudson, is said 
to have wrung his hands and wept as he saw our poor 
fellows cut down by the Hessians. He had disapproved 
of attempting to hold this post, and had written thus to 
General Greene, at Fort Lee, who disagreed with him 
in the opinion that it was best to dismantle and abandon 
it. " If we cannot prevent vessels from passing up, and 
the enemy are possessed of the surrounding country, 
what valuable purpose can it answer to attempt to hold 
a post, from which the expected benefit cannot be had ? 
I am therefore inclined to think, that it will not be pru- 
dent to hazard the stores and men at Mount "Washing- 
ton ; but, as you are on the spot, I leave it to you to 
give such orders, as to evacuating Mount "Washington, 
as you may judge best." 

General Lee coolly observed on hearing of the ter- 
13* 



298 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

rible loss, — " Oh, general ! why would you be over-per- 
suaded by men of inferior judgment to your own? It 
was a cursed affair." 

Washington retreated into New Jersey. General 
Howe followed him closely. When our army reached 
New Brunswick, it amounted to only about four thou- 
sand men, afterwards reduced by sickness and desertion, 
to three thousand ; with these Washington retreated to 
Trenton. The enemy and the tories grew bolder and 
more insolent every day, while the patriotic were more 
and more depressed, though none the less determined 
on death rather than submission. A large majority 
were dissatisfied, to a certain degree, with the com- 
mander-in-chief. Even George Clinton says : " We 
have no particular accounts yet from head-quarters, 
but I am apt to believe retreating is yet fashionable." 

The defensive policy which Washington had felt 
obliged, at the sacrifice of all that self-love suggested 
and all that a naturally ardent and impetuous temper 
must have prompted, to adopt for the safety of the 
cause under the circumstances, had already brought 
upon him, as he knew it must, the charge of indecision, 
if not of imbecility. Even his bosom friend, Colonel 
Reed, dazzled by the more showy qualities of Lee, who 
was prodigiously overrated on account of his European 
military experience — acquired, however, under circum- 
stances so different as to be of little comparative use in 
America — had privately joined that aspiring and inso- 
lent officer in disparaging the conduct of the com- 



1776.] . WOUNDED FEELINGS. 299 

mander-in-chief ; which came to his knowledge by his 
having accidentally opened a letter not intended for his 
eye, but which he had reason to suppose was an ordi- 
nary letter on public business. Yet he had shown the 
utter futility of a charge of indecision and vacillation, 
by persisting in the line of policy which he had marked 
out as the only one which would render success possi- 
ble ; namely that of wearying out the enemy, and 
avoiding such a decisive trial of strength as must in- 
evitably prove destructive to the little, half-clothed, 
half-armed, and more than half-dispirited band which 
constituted his entire force. 

Thus left without a personal friend near him in 
whose hearty support he could confide ; feeling that he 
was surrounded with critics rather than supporters ; 
under difficulties as great as ever were laid upon the 
judgment, skill, and patience of mortal man, Wash- 
ington remained calm and determined, crushing his 
wounded feelings into his own bosom, pursuing his 
labors with a single eye to the great end, and leaving 
success and fame in the hands of the Ruler of the uni- 
verse, whom he felt to be on his side and the side of 
Freedom. 

If any have ever doubts of the religious faith of 
Washington, the study of his conduct and letters of this 
period would go far to convince the most skeptical, that 
nothing but an abiding and most hearty faith could have 
sustained his calmness, and his disregard of appearances, 



300 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. E 1776 

for he was a man to whom the approbation of his fellow- 
men was very precious. 

At this unhappy juncture, Governor Livingston, of 
New Jersey, wrote him : 

" I can easily form some idea of the difficulties un- 
der which you labor, particularly of one for which the 
public can make no allowance, because your prudence 
and fidelity to the cause will not suffer you to reveal it 
to the public ; an instance of magnanimity superior, 
perhaps, to any that can be shown in battle. But de- 
pend upon it, my dear sir, the impartial world will do 
you ample justice before long. May God support you 
under that fatigue, both of body and mind, to which 
you must be constantly exposed." 

It was at the chief's own request that General Lee 
had been entrusted with a command next in dignity 
and importance to his own, although objections had 
been felt by others, grounded both on Lee's traits of 
character and his being an Englishman. 

"Washington was, as we have seen, aware of his hot 
and ungoverned temper, but thought his military skill 
invaluable to an inexperienced army, and so always 
paid great deference to his opinion. This helped to 
make Lee more and more conceited, and seems to have 
confirmed him in the notion that he was the better gen- 
eral of the two. 

Mr. Irving says — " It is evident that Lee considered 
Washington's star to be on the decline, and his own in 
the ascendant." And no wonder, when we find Reed 



1776 -] GENEROUS FORGIVENESS. 301 

writing to him : " I do not mean to flatter or praise you, 
at the expense of any other ; but I do think it is en- 
tirely owing to you, that this army, and the liberties of 
America so far as they are dependent on it, are not en- 
tirely cut off. You have decision, a quality often want- 
ing in minds otherwise valuable ; and I ascribe to this 
our escape from York Island, King's Bridge, and the 
Plains ; and I have no doubt, had you been here, the 
garrison of Mount Washington would now have com- 
posed a part of this army." 

Colonel Reed in after times saw his error, and found 
a " place of repentance," having " sought it earnestly, 
with tears." Washington could forgive even his own 
familiar friend for a momentary treachery, for the best 
people learn by self-knowledge to be merciful to the 
faults of others, — but at the time it was evidently a 
sore blow to him. 



CHAPTER XXYII. 

Lee's advice — His jealousy of Washington — Delays in obeying orders — Endeavoring 
to make an independent movement, to the injury of the Commander-in-chief — 
Cabals against Washington — Lee's capture by the British — Retreat across the Jer- 
seys — Position and prospects of the Army— New powers granted by Congress. 

Lee's characteristic advice, with respect to the inter- 
minable delays of Congress in granting the necessary- 
supplies, was that Washington should threaten to lay 
down his commission, which would probably have been 
the very thing most men would have thought of. But 
such an idea seems never to have been entertained, 
even at the darkest hour, by the man whose heroic soul 
had the whole weight of responsibility to Wfear ;. and he 
bore it, not as a hireling, but as one whose dearest in- 
terests were bound up in the common cause. Lee's 
jealousy of Washington, and his desire to find an op- 
portunity of supplanting him, added greatly to all the 
difficulties of this period. Not only did he delay, un- 
der various pretences, marching to the succor of the 
commander-in-chief, when the army in Jersey was on 
the point of annihilation, but he was secretly under- 
mining his influence, and the respect instinctively felt 



1776.] ATTEMPTS AT UNDERMINING. 303 

for him throughout the country, by letters in every di- 
rection, containing such passages as these : — " Indeci- 
sion bids fair for tumbling down the goodly fabric of 
American freedom, and with it, the rights of mankind. 
'Twas indecision of Congress prevented our having a 
noble army, and on an excellent footing. 'Twas inde 
cision in our military councils which cost us the garri- 
son of Fort Washington, the consequence of which 
must be fatal, unless remedied in time by a contrary 
spirit. 

" Enclosed, I send you an extract of a letter from 
the general, on which you will make your comments ; 
and I have no doubt you will concur with me in the 
necessity of raising immediately an army to save us 
from perdition." 

This to General Heath : — 

" I j>erceive that you have formed an idea that, 
should General Washington remove to the Straits of 
Magellan, the instructions he left with you, upon a par- 
ticular occasion, have, to all intents and purposes, in- 
vested you with a command separate from, and inde- 
pendent of any other superiors." 

To Eeed he writes : — " I received your most obli- 
ging, nattering letter ; lament with you that fatal inde- 
cision of mind, which in war is a much greater dis- 
qualification than stupidity, or even want of personal 
courage. Accident may put a decisive blunderer in 
the right ; but eternal defeat and miscarriage must at- 



304 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [177G. 

tend the man of the best parts, if cursed with indeci- 
sion." 

Afterwards, to Governor Cooke, of Rhode Island : — 

" Theory joined to practice, or a heaven-born genius, 
can alone constitute a general. As to the latter, God 
Almighty indulges the modern world very rarely with 
the spectacle ; and I do not know, from what I have 
seen, that he has been more profuse of this ethereal 
spirit to the Americans than to other nations." 

All this time Lee was making every possible and im- 
possible excuse to avoid aiding "Washington with his 
troops ; the chief in the dignity of his own honesty try- 
ing, to the last, to believe in Lee, and to rely upon his 
statements. 

It has been said that Washington was never de- 
ceived in a man whom he had a fair opportunity of 
knowing ; and we can hardly say whether or not this 
case should be considered an exception. It would 
seem that Washington continued to rely upon his sec- 
ond in command as an officer, after he had become fully 
aware of his defects as a man. It was not long before 
Lee discovered himself so fully as to lose even his 
military reputation. 

Three weeks did Washington wait, hope and urge. 
Philadelphia was evidently the immediate object of the 
enemy. " Do come on," he writes to Lee ; " your ar- 
rival may be fortunate, and, if it can be effected with- 
out delay, may be the means of preserving a city, 



1776.] CROSS PURPOSES. 305 

whose loss must prove of the most fatal consequence to 
the cause of America." 

And again : — " Philadelphia, beyond all question, 
is the object of the enemy's movements, and nothing 
less than our utmost exertions will prevent General 
Howe from possessing it. The force I have is weak, 
and utterly incompetent to that end. I must, there- 
fore, entreat you to push on with every possible succor 
you can bring." 

Lee, meanwhile, writes to General Heath for some 
ot General Gates's troops to be sent to him. " I am 
in hopes," he says, " to reconquer (if I may so express 
myself) the Jerseys. It was really in the hands of the 
enemy at my arrival." Washington still urged and al- 
most entreated. " I have so frequently mentioned our 
situation, and the necessity of your aid, that it is pain- 
ful for me to add a word on the subject," he says. 

But Lee, perfectly heedless of all these appeals, 
staid where he was, and meditated separate plans, the 
credit of whose success might redound to his own glory. 

Mr. Irving's account of his appearance and conduct 
is most graphic and amusing, but we must not indulge 
ourselves by extracting it. Suffice it to say, that all 
Lee's wild dreams ended in his being made prisoner, in 
the most mortifying way, by a party of British dra- 
goons, just as he was signing a letter he had written to 
General Gates to this effect : — 

" There never was so d — d a stroke ; entre nous, a 
certain great man is most d — bly deficient. He has 



306 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

thrown me into a situation where I have my choice of 
difficulties ; if I stay in this province I risk myself and 
army ; and if I do not stay the province is lost for 
ever." 

The account of his capture (given by Wilkinson,) 
concludes : — • 

" There was a shout of triumph, but a great hurry 
to make sure of the prize before the army should ar- 
rive to the rescue. A trumpet sounded the recall to 
the dragoons, who were chasing the scattered guards. 
The general, bareheaded, and in his slippers and 
blanket coat, was mounted on "Wilkinson's horse, which 
stood at the door, and the troops clattered off with their 
prisoner to Brunswick. In three hours the booming of 
cannon in that direction, told the exultation of the en- 
emy. 

" They boasted of having taken the American Pal- 
ladium ; for they considered Lee the most scientific and 
experienced of the rebel generals." 

Washington uttered no word of censure against Lee 
in his despatches to Congress, but exerted himself in 
every possible way until an exchange had been accom- 
plished. 

Lee would not have claimed so many words in a life 
of Washington, were it not at this juncture he had 
come within a possibility, at least, of supj)lanting the 
commander-in-chief. So heavy was the discourage- 
ment under which Washington was laboring, not with- 
out its natural consequence of unpopularity, that if 



1776 -] THE TRUTH PREVAILS. 307 

Lee, who had acquired the position of a military idol 
to the army, had achieved the separate movement 
which he was contemplating, and succeeded in breaking 
the cordon of the enemy, there seems to have been a 
chance of his surpassing the chief, and throwing him 
completely into the background, after all his services. 

This could have been only temporary : but as Mr. 
Irving observes : — 

" What an unfortunate change it would have been 
for the country ! Lee was undoubtedly a man of bril- 
liant talents, shrewd sagacity, and much knowledge 
and experience in the art of war ; but he was wilful 
and uncertain in his temper, self-indulgent in his hab- 
its, and an egotist in warfare ; boldly dashing for a sol- 
dier's glory, rather than warily acting for a country's 
good. He wanted those great moral qualities which, 
in addition to military capacity, inspired such universal 
confidence in the wisdom, rectitude and patriotism of 
Washington, enabling him to direct and control legis- 
lative bodies as well as armies ; to harmonize the jar- 
ring passions and jealousies of a wide and imperfect 
confederacy, and to cope with the varied exigencies of 
the Revolution." 

As it was ordered, however, Lee's true character 
came to light, and Washington's retreat through the 
Jerseys received its just meed of praise, as a stroke of 
good generalship. It was an orderly retreat of nearly 
one hundred miles, accomplished at a slow pace, in 
order to allow time for the country people to join them, 



308 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

and accompanied by all the cannon and nearly all the 
stores of the army, though four rivers were to be 
crossed in the transit. Twice there had been a retro- 
grade movement, in the expectation of meeting the 
enemy, or with an intention of defying him, bnt no en- 
gagement had taken place. Washington reached Tren- 
ton in safety on December 2d, and crossing the Dela- 
ware, encamped on the right bank, and there remained 
for about three weeks, watching the movements of the 
British, who were evidently approaching Philadelphia. 
He writes to his brother : — 

"No man, I believe, ever had a greater choice of 
difficulties, and less means to extricate himself from 
them. However, under a full persuasion of the justice 
of our cause, I cannot entertain an idea that it will 
finally sink, though it may remain for some time under 
a cloud." 

One thing strikes one as remarkable, in studying this 
part of Washington's career, that there was any body 
left who held an unshaken opinion of his military skill. 

We, who have the advantage of seeing at a glance 
his course and its results, have no difficulty in award- 
ing him the credit he all the time deserved. But for 
his contemporaries it must have been far less easy. To 
be sure they had his past conduct, character and ser- 
vices to found an opinion upon ; but in sixteen years of 
peaceful farming and fox-hunting, a man might forget 
a good deal that he had learned in early youth, even 
under General Braddock. 



1776.] GLOOMIEST PERIOD OF THE WAR. 309 

We cannot help thinking there must have been a 
great deal, not only of sound sense and good judgment, 
but of generous feeling in the people and the Congress, 
who still believed in Washington and furthered his 
measures. His own weight of character, and the hon- 
esty and truthfulness of his countenance and manner, 
must have had a large share in producing faith in his 
movements ; but, after all, no little credit is dne to the 
people, who were obliged to look on and see him retreat 
and retreat, when they had no means of judging of his 
reasons. It is pleasant to think that a large proportion 
of those he fought for were worthy of his labors and 
sacrifices. 

" This," says Sparks, " was the gloomiest period of 
the war. The campaign had been little else than a se- 
ries of disasters and retreats. The enemy had gained 
possession of Ehode Island, Long Island, the city of 
New York, Staten Island, and nearly the whole of the 
Jerseys, and seemed on the point of extending their 
conquests into Pennsylvania. By the fatal scheme of 
short enlistments, and by sickness, the effective force 
with General Washington had dwindled away, till it 
hardly deserved the name of an army. A proclama- 
tion was published jointly by Lord Howe and General 
Howe, offering pardon in the king's name, to all who 
should take the oath of allegiance and come under his 
protection in sixty days. 

" Many persons, among whom were men of wealth 



310 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

and consideration, accepted these terms, and went over 
to the enemy. 

" Others, especially in New Jersey, took the oath, 
but remained at their homes. 

" In short, so great was the panic and so dark the 
prospect, that a general despondency pervaded the con- 
tinent. In the midst of these scenes of trial and dis- 
couragement, Washington stood firm. Whatever his 
apprehensions may have been, no misgivings were 
manifest in his conduct or his counsels. 

" From his letters, written at this time on the west- 
ern bank of the Delaware, it does not appear that he 
yielded for a moment to a sense of immediate danger, 
or to a doubt of ultimate success. On the contrary 
they breathe the same determined spirit, and are 
marked by the same confidence, calmness, and fore- 
thought, which distinguish them on all other occasions. 
When asked what he would do, if Philadelphia should 
be taken, he is reported to have said — ' We will retreat 
beyond the Susquehanna River ; and thence, if neces- 
sary, to the Alleghany Mountains.' Knowing, as he did, 
the temper of the people, the deep-rooted cause of the 
controversy, and the actual resources of the confeder- 
acy, he was not disheartened by temporary misfortunes, 
being persuaded that perseverance would at last over- 
come every obstacle." 

Burke thought the position of our army at this time 
very precarious. "An army," he says, "that is obliged 
at all times and in all situations, to decline an engage- 



1776.] DICTATORIAL POWERS. 311 

ment, may' delay their ruin, but can never defend their 
country." Some one called it " a scuffle for liberty." 

It was not very long after this that the British who 
had been in possession of the whole route, were obliged 
to ask of Washington a safe conduct for money and 
stores, to be sent for the use of the prisoners captured 
at Trenton. 

While he lay in camp at Trenton the state of the 
army, then in imminent danger of being totally dis- 
banded, owing to the dissatisfaction of the Jersey peo- 
ple, obliged him to ask for new powers, powers indeed 
which he himself felt Congress might well refuse to 
grant. 

" It may be said, that this is an application for pow- 
ers that are too dangerous to be intrusted. I can only 
add, that desperate diseases require desperate reme- 
dies ; and I with truth declare, that I have no lust after 
power, but I wish with as much fervency as any man 
upon this wide-extended continent, for an opportunity 
of turning the sword into the ploughshare. But my 
feelings, as an officer and a man, have been such as to 
force me to say, that no person ever had a greater 
choice of difficulties to contend with than I have. It 
is needless to add, that short enlistments, and a mis- 
taken dependence upon militia, have been the origin 
of all our misfortunes and the great accumulation of 
our debt. 

" We find, sir, that the enemy are daily gathering- 
strength from the disaffected. This strength, like a 



312 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

enow-ball, by rolling, will increase, unless some means 
can be devised to check effectually the progress of the 
enemy's arms. Militia may possibly do it for a little 
while ; but in a little while, also, and the militia of 
those States which have been frequently called upon, 
will not turn out at all ; or, if -they do, it will be with 
so much reluctance and sloth, as to amount to the same 
thing. 

" Instance New Jersey ! Witness Pennsylvania ! 
Could any thing but the river Delaware have saved 
Philadelphia ? Can any thing (the exigency of the 
case indeed may justify it) be more destructive to the 
recruiting service, than giving ten dollars' bounty for 
six weeks' service of the militia, who come in, you can- 
not tell how, go, you cannot tell when, and act, you 
cannot tell where ; consume your provisions, exhaust 
your stores, and leave you at last at a critical moment." 

But Congress did not refuse, and in this case, as in 
most others, answered favorably Washington's volumes 
of letters, filled, as was necessary under the distressing 
and threatening circumstances of the case, with requisi- 
tions of every kind. He often apologizes for this, yet 
the thing speaks for itself, and however tiresome, it 
must be done, and was done, with such faithfulness as 
in the end answered the purpose. 

Washington not only received from Congress the 
powers of almost a military dictator, but accompanied 
by such gracious words as these : — 

" Happy is it for this country that the general of 



1776.] CIVIL OBLIGATIONS. 313 

their forces can safely be intrusted with the most un- 
limited power, and neither personal security, liberty nor 
property, be in the least degree endangered thereby." 

To which Washington replied : — 

" I find Congress has done me the honor to intrust 
me with powers, in my military capacity, of the high- 
est nature, and almost unlimited extent. Instead of 
thinking myself freed from all civil obligations by this 
mark of their confidence, I shall constantly bear in 
mind that, as the sword was the last resort for the pres- 
ervation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first thing 
laid aside when those liberties are firmly established." 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Public patience wearing out — The art of retreating — Recruiting — Some accessions to 
the army give rise to new hopes and new projects — Hard duty — Crossing the Del- 
aware—Surprise of the Hessians — Battle of Trenton— Entrance into Philadelphia 
— Battle of Princeton— Anecdotes of Washington's bravery. 

The discouraging aspect of affairs, after the loss of Fort 
Washington, and while the w r eary and diminished army 
was on the west side of the Delaware, awaiting, with 
the courage of desperation, the movements of Lord 
Howe and his brother Sir William, tried the soul of 
Washington to the utmost. Retreating and retreating, 
with scarce a gleam of success to cheer the heavy 
clouds of disappointment, it needed all his energy and 
all his perseverance — superior to most other men's — to 
keep off despair and sustain activity. The Howes were 
only waiting for the ice to take Philadelphia, which 
had been left under command of General Putnam. 

The army under Washington at this time amounted 
to ten thousand, one hundred and six men ; of this 
number, five thousand, three hundred and ninety-nine 
were sick or on furlough, leaving four thousand, seven 
hundred and seven fit for duty. 



1776.] A STORMY CHRISTMAS. 315 

The complete renovation of the array, by new en- 
listments and judicious liberality, was now the theme 
of his letters to Congress ; and Congress was wise, and 
listened, and aided, and did every thing in its power to 
meet his views. Mutual respect and mutual confi- 
dence mark the correspondence, which one really can- 
not read without a feeling that he is in the presence of 
superior minds, and hearts worthy of the honor of man- 
aging a patriot revolution. 

After watching the movements of the enemy for 
some time with the greatest anxiety, and finding his 
own force increased by the accession of troops from 
Ticonderoga and elsewhere, Washington resolved upon 
attempting the passage of the Delaware, and surprising 
the British force then lying at Trenton. December 
25th was the time fixed upon for this bold stroke. 

The weather was very severe, and the river full of 
floating masses of ice. The transit must be made in 
darkness, and the least noise would involve the frustra- 
tion of the plan, if not the destruction of all engaged 
in it. "Washington superintended the whole in person, 
and it was four o'clock in the morning when the entire 
army, with its artillery, had made its tedious and peril- 
ous way through the icy waters, and stood upon the 
eastern shore, in a bitter wind, and under a storm of 
hail and snow. The troops, in two divisions, were to 
attack the town at two different points, and this was 
accomplished almost at one and the same moment. 

It is said that while Washington, wound up to the 



316 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

last pitch of anxiety and excited feeling, was standing 
on the shore, watch in hand, directing the transporta- 
tion of the troops, an officer approached and handed 
him a letter. " What a time is this to hand me let- 
ters ! " he said hastily, as if the solemnity of the scene 
ought to concentrate all attention. He forgot that no 
one there could fully sympathize with him upon whom 
the responsibility was weighing. 

Some one else told him, after the divisions had 
started on their perilous march, that not only the men 
but their arms were soaked with freezing water, and 
asked what should be done. 

" Advance and charge ! " and though every heavy 
tread of the marching thousands was to be made 
through snow, and in the face of cutting sleet, no one 
faltered, though the cold was clinching at their very vi- 
tals. 

As the day broke, a countryman came out to chop 
wood for his fire, and some one of the staff who rode 
with their general at the head of the troops, inquired 
where the picket lay. 

" I don't know, I'm sure," said the fellow, who had 
no idea of getting himself into trouble. 

" You need not be afraid to tell," said the aid ; "this 
is General Washington." 

" God bless and prosper you, sir," said the farmer ; 
" there they are, and just by the tree stands the sentry." 

They moved on at a quicker pace. In another mo- 
ment all was confusion. When the fight was at its 



1776. J SURPRISE AT TRENTON. 317 

thickest, and Washington was hurrying on another co- 
lumn, an officer called out — " Their flags are struck, 
sir ! " 

" Struck ! so they are ! " he said, looking up. Then 
putting spurs to his horse he galloped forward, shouting- 
words of cheer, and bestowing praise on the brave fel- 
lows who loved him so well. 

The enemy's force, consisting principally of Hes- 
sians,* under the command of Colonel Rahl, taken en- 
tirely by surprise, and in their confusion, half-blinded 
by the storm, made first an attempt at resistance, then 
an effort at retreat, but finally a complete surrender of 
themselves as prisoners of war — twenty-three officers, 
and about nine hundred privates. Six brass field-pieces 
and a thousand stand of arms, were not the least ac- 
ceptable fruits of victory. Seven officers and five-and- 
twenty men were killed, on the British side ; on ours 
two privates killed, and two frozen to death. General 
"Washington, fearing the effects of cold and fatigue upon 
his men, recrossed the Delaware immediately, and 
reached his camp in safety, with all his prisoners and 
the voluminous spoils of war ; and he made a sort of 
triumphal entry into Philadelphia, in order to raise the 
spirits of the people and the army,, by the exhibition 
of tangible proofs of success. 

The British> retreated to Princeton, where they were 
reinforced from New York, and placed under command 

* Troops hired for the war by the king of Great Britain from the Duke 
of Hesse Casse. 



318 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

of Earl Cornwallis. As soon as his troops were suffi- 
ciently recruited, General Washington had once more 
crossed the river and taken up his post at Trenton, ready 
for the attack which he knew would be made. On 
the 2d of January, 1777, news came that the enemy 
was approaching, and several parties were sent to 
harass and hinder them on their march, so that they 
did not reach Trenton until four o'clock in the after- 
noon. By this time the American army had taken up 
a position beyond the Assanpink, a small stream that 
empties into the Delaware below Trenton, and on whose 
banks our cannon were planted. 

" Now is the time to make sure of "Washington," 
said one of the British officers to Lord Cornwallis. 
But my lord, with his overwhelming force, was too con- 
fident of victory to be in any great haste. " Our troops 
have marched a good way and are tired," he said, 
" and the old fox can't escape this time, for the Dela- 
ware is frozen, and we have him completely in our 
power. To-morrow morning we will fall upon him, 
and take him and his ragamuffuas all at once." 

" If Washington be the soldier I think him," was 
the reply, " you'll not see him to-morrow morning." 

And so the event proved ; for Washington, after set- 
ting the night-watch, and kindling a row of fires along 
the bank of the creek, sent his bnggage^down to Bur- 
lington, and withdrew his little army so quietly that it 
was not till daylight that the British suspected their 
departure. While they were staring at each other in 



1777 -] BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 319 

blank astonishment, and asking, " Where can Washing- 
ton be gone ? " the booming of cannon was heard in 
the direction of Princeton. 

" There he is ! " said every body, and they were 
quite right, for he had set out with the bold resolve of 
marching upon Brunswick, and taking the stores which 
had been accumulated there by the British. But en- 
countering three British regiments at Princeton, he 
had stopped to give them battle, and was even then 
coming off victorious with three hundred prisoners. 
Lord Cornwallis and his army returned crestfallen to 
Brunswick, fearing for the money and stores which had 
been Washington's first object, and which he writes to 
the President of Congress he could probably have taken 
if he could have commanded six or eight hundred fresh 
troops, though he dared not attempt it with men worn 
out by two sleepless nights and forced marches. The 
seventy thousand pounds said to have been in the mili- 
tary chest at Brunswick, would have put such sinews 
into our side of the war, at that critical time, that it is 
probable Mr. Kobert Morris would have been saved a 
great deal of trouble, and General Washington enabled 
to return to Mount Vernon three or four years earlier 
than he did. 

Kobert Morris was the great financier who managed 
to obtain money for the war, even under the worst cir- 
cumstances, often pledging his own personal credit for 
it, when the public credit was worth almost nothing. 



320 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

It is often said that without him, even Washington 
would have been of no avail to our cause. 

At the battle of Princeton, our army lost General 
Mercer, a brave and amiable officer, and a personal 
friend of Washington. On the British side, a young 
Captain Leslie, son of an English earl, was among the 
slain, and at the request of the prisoners he was buried 
with military honors. 

Stories of Washington's contempt of personal danger 
are linked to this battle. His officers are said to have 
complained of it and remonstrated against it ; but when 
the hottest of the fight came, he could not help dashing 
into it, cheering on his men and inspiring their courage 
by his own. 

One of his aides-de-camp, Colonel Fitzgerald, a brave 
Irishman, had been ordered by the commander-in-chief 
to bring up troops from the rear of the column. When 
he returned, Washington was not to be found. In a 
moment, however, the parting smoke showed him in the 
thick of the battle, endeavoring to rally a line which 
had been broken by the enemy. Failing in this, he 
reined his horse up, directly in front of the enemy, — 
perhaps in something like the position in which we see 
him in Brown's splendid statue, just erected in New 
York, — and there stood, as if to say to the discomfited 
troops, — " Death rather than dishonor, for me at 
least." 

Fitzgerald, horror stricken, dropped the bridle on 
his horse's neck and covered his eyes with his hands, 



1777.] MOBAL EFFECT OF VICTOEY. 321 

that he might not see him fall. Then came a volley of 
musketry, and the aide once more looks for his chief. 
There he is, waving his hat, cheering on the troops, 
while victory follows in his footsteps. 

" Thank God ! your Excellency is safe ! " the warm- 
hearted Irishman exclaims, bursting into tears of joyful 
surprise. Washington, all radiant, gave him a hearty 
grasp of the hand, exclaiming, " Away, my dear Colonel, 
and bring up the troops. The day is our own." 

The moral effect of this victory can hardly be ap- 
preciated. The public mind, sunk in despondency by 
incessant disaster, was cold and spiritless, though ob- 
stinately bent on resistance. Criticism was rife, and 
those who stood by and did nothing, found it easy to 
show how much ought to have been done, by those who 
had alone borne all the hardships and suffered most of 
the losses. But when "Washington had seized this 
glorious opportunity of showing what he could do with 
an inferior force, as soon as he caught the British at a 
distance from the ships which had heretofore backed 
all their land operations, the whole aspect of affairs was 
changed, and the war assumed at once a character of 
dignity and hope, which had been well-nigh lost or for- 
gotten amid defeat and disaster. Success threw magic 
light on Washington's wisdom and patience ; he was a 
hero, the " American Fabius," and several other very 
fine characters, any one of whom would have been 
honored by being compared to him. In three weeks to 
drive the British from all their posts on the Delaware, 



322 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

and from all but two in the Jerseys, was a feat that 
caused a degree of exultation and an exuberance of 
praise, that might have proved dangerous if not pru- 
dently managed. But Washington was on his guard, 
both for himself and the public, and he neither sat still 
to enjoy his laurels, nor relaxed his vigilance because of 
the confusion of the enemy. He speaks of them as 
" panic-struck," and immediately plans an attack on 
them at JSTew York, calling on Generals Lincoln and 
Heath to make a feint, as if intending to attack them 
from the Hudson, in order that Washington might 
march upon them from Jersey. 

But this project was, for various reasons, given up, 
and Washington remained in winter-quarters at Morris- 
town, recruiting his army and preparing for the next 
campaign, though he took many opportunities of ha- 
rassing the enemy and counteracting his designs. The 
people of Jersey, who had been almost to a man disaffected 
to the patriot cause, had been pretty well cured of their 
fancy for British rule, by the conduct of the Hessian 
legions in that State ; and Washington, taking up his 
winter-quarters among them, and using his influence 
judiciously, gained many of them over to the right side. 

As the Hessian prisoners were marched through the 
towns in Pennsylvania on their way to Philadelphia, 
they were hooted at by the inhabitants, who had con- 
ceived a most hateful idea of the hired soldiers that 
could speak no English. But General Washington 
caused notices to be put up all through the country, to 



1777.] WINTER QUARTERS. 323 

the effect that these soldiers were not to blame for the 
war, but sold by their sovereign to Great Britain, and 
so fighting by compulsion. After this, they were no 
longer molested, but treated with kindness by the in- 
habitants. 

The campaign of 1776, being now finished gloriously, 
Washington established his quarters at Morristown, 
having cleared the Jerseys of the British, with the ex- 
ception of the towns of Brunswick and Amboy, by 
means of which they had. an open communication by 
water with New York. After the successes of the 25th 
and 26th December, u the enemy evacuated the region, 
with the greatest hurry and confusion." Morristown 
was not as good a position for winter-quarters as might 
have been wished, but being in a mountainous country 
in was difficult of access to the enemy, and being the 
depot of a farming region was well supplied with pro- 
visions and forage. Here he spent the entire winter, 
harassing the enemy when he could, but occupied in- 
cessantly with the care of the whole extent of the 
American forces, distributed at various points, from 
Canada to St. Augustine. His letters during the period 
are numerous and characteristic. General Lee's situ- 
ation, as a prisoner of war, forms the subject of many 
of these, the British at first seeming very anxious to 
make an example of that officer, as a deserter from 
their service. The treatment of prisoners on both sides 
was an anxious and annoying point, each side accusing 
the other of unnecessary hardship or neglect. The cor- 



324 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

respondence between General Washington and General 
Howe on this topic, is sharp and bitter. On the other 
hand, Washington had the duty of keeping Congress 
right abont these matters, since gentlemen legislating 
quietly at a distance are very liable to mistake in di- 
recting military affairs. 

Then there were incessant questions of rank to set- 
tle ; the offended dignity of officers who thought them- 
selves undervalued to be appeased ; and the warmest 
persuasives to be used to those who were threatening 
to resign. 

A curious expedient at one time suggested itself to 
Washington, mentioned in a letter to Colonel Morgan. 

" It occurs to me that if you would dress a company 
or two of true woodsmen in the Indian style, and let 
them make the attack with screaming and yelling, as 
the Indians do, it would have very good consequences, 
especially if as little as possible was said or known of 
the matter beforehand." 

Another letter concludes — 

"In a word, if a man cannot act in all respects as 
he can wish, he must do what appears best under the 
circumstances he is in. This I aim at, however I may 
fall short of the end." 

The authority given by Congress to the commander- 
in-chief being used by him in requiring an oath of al- 
legiance, gave great dissatisfaction, particularly in New 
Jersey, whose Legislature passed a resolve of censure 
against it, as interfering with their prerogative. The 



1777.] DANGERS OF PRETENDED NEUTRALITY. 325 

proclamation required every good citizen to come for- 
ward and take the oath of allegiance to the United 
States, granting leave to the disaffected to retire within 
the enemy's lines, and declaring that all who should 
neglect or refuse to comply with the order, within the 
space of thirty days, should be " deemed adherents to 
the King of Great Britain, and treated as common 
enemies to these American States." There was a great 
clamor about this. It was said there were " no United 
States," and that each State must administer its own 
oath of allegiance. But Washington made no change. 
The dangers of pretended neutrality had become suffi- 
ciently apparent to him, and he chose, as he always 
did, to defer his personal popularity to the great 
cause. 

" These fellows at Elizabethtown, as well as all 
others,, who wish to remain with us till the expiration 
of the thirty days, for no other purpose than to convey 
intelligence to the enemy and poison our people's 
minds, must and shall be compelled to withdraw imme- 
diately within the enemy's lines ; others, who are hesi- 
tating which side to take, and behave friendly to us 
till they determine, must be treated with lenity." 

One of Washington's letters to a pouting general is 
so lively and characteristic of the directness with which 
he treated all subjects, as well as so good a general hint 
to egotists, that we must not quite omit it : 

" Do not, my dear General S , torment yourself 

any longer with imaginary slights, and involve others 



326 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

in the perplexities you feel on that score. No other 
officer of rank in the whole array has so often conceived 
himself neglected, slighted and ill-treated, as you have 
done, and none, I am sure, has had less cause than 
yourself to entertain such ideas. * * * * But 
I have no time to dwell upon a subject of this kind. I 
shall quit it with an earnest exhortation, that you will 
not suffer yourself to be teazed with evils that exist 
only in the imagination, and with slights that have no 
existence at all." 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

Army marched to Germantov/n — Lafayette's arrival — Battles of Chad's Ford and 
White Marsh — Winter quarters at Valley Forge — Suffering of the troops— Mrs. 
Washington's kindness — Washington's sympathy, and remonstrances — Cabal 
against the commander-in-chief— Indignation of his friends — Conway's repentanco 
— Half-pay for the troops — Allianco with the French — Battle of Monmouth. 

The enemy's intentions being as yet beyond conjecture, 
General Washington marched liis army to German- 
town, that it might be ready to defend the city of Phila- 
delphia, in case that should prove to be General Howe's 
object. He then visited Philadelphia to hold confer- 
ence with Congress, and while there saw, for the first 
time, the young Marquis de Lafayette, destined by 
Providence to be one of his chief supports during the 
war, and his dearest friend for life. 

What a blessing was Lafayette's arrival ! Not only 
to the struggling States, but in particular to Washing- 
ton. The spirit of the generous young Frenchman was 
to the harassed chief as cold water to the thirsty soul. 
No jealousies, no fault-finding, no selfish emulation ; 
but pure, high, uncalculating enthusiasm, and a devo- 
tion to the character and person of Washington that 



328 memoirs of Washington. t 1777 - 

melted the strong man, and opened those springs of 
tenderness which cares, duties and trials had well-nigh 
choked up. It is not difficult to believe that Lafayette 
had even more to do with the success of the war than 
we are accustomed to think. Whatever kept up the 
chief's heart, upbore the army and the country ; for it 
is plain that, without derogation from the ability or 
faithfulness of any of the heroic contributors to the 
final triumph, Washington was in a peculiar manner 
the life and soul, — the main-spring and the balance 
wheel, — the spur and the rein, — of the whole move- 
ment and its result. Blessings, then, on Lafayette, the 
helper and consoler of the chosen father of his heart, 
through so many trials ! His name goes down to pos- 
terity on the same breath that is destined to proclaim 
for ever the glory of Washington ! 

Lafayette, all eagerness to meet the commander 
whose fame had excited his young enthusiasm, was 
introduced with the usual forms, and from the very 
ordinary reception accorded him by Washington, 
it was supposed that the chief was not particularly 
pleased with the mercurial and demonstrative young 
Frenchman. The truth is that Washington partook, in 
some degree, the English prejudice against "foreign- 
ers," and that from this cause personal acquaintance 
with them was not particularly agreeable to him. 

But as the dinner proceeded, and the new comer 
had, in the ease of conversation, made himself under- 
stood as a volunteer for liberty, possessed of the most 



l777 -] DEFEAT AT CHAD'S FOKD. 329 

generous sentiments, and willing to sacrifice all that 
men count most dear in the cause of American free- 
dom, Washington's keen eye watched his every look 
and word, and formed an opinion which he never had 
a moment's occasion to alter or regret. As soon as the 
company left the table, he drew Lafayette to the recess 
of a window, and there, in the kindest manner, wel- 
comed and thanked him, and invited him at once to 
become one of his military family. 

The next day, going on a tour of inspection of forts, 
he invited Lafayette to accompany him, and from that 
hour the Marquis was his bosom companion and filial 
friend, enjoying an intimacy with him that no other 
man ever attained to. 

The private story of Lafayette, though too long for 
insertion here, is, and ought to be so interesting to 
Americans, that we shall offer a slight sketch of it 
hereafter, bespeaking for it the grateful attention of our 
readers.* 

Sir William Howe's designs upon Philadelphia be- 
coming very evident after this, the army was marched 
to Wilmington, Delaware, whence they moved to the 
high ground near Chad's Ford. An engagement en- 
sued, and the Americans were routed, and the Marquis 
de Lafayette received a wound in the leg, which con- 
fined him for some time. 

The battle of Germantown, during which a very 
heavy fog mingled friends and foes, and a panic flight 

* See Appendix 3. 



330 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

of part of the troops completed the discomfiture of the 
rest, is one of the dark points in our history, yet, strange 
to say, it proved in the end to have exerted a favorable 
influence on the result of the war. Washington never 
supposed he had done any thing remarkable in under- 
taking it, and he suffered extreme distress from its un- 
happy result. " It was a bloody day," he said. " "Would 
to Heaven I could add that it had been a fortunate 
one for us." Yet when the news of it reached Paris, 
where American commissioners were endeavoring to 
obtain aid from France, the Count de Vergennes, prime 
minister of Louis XVI., was so struck with the bold- 
ness of General Washington in attacking the far supe- 
rior force of General Howe, and that with an army of 
newly raised and little disciplined troops, that he felt 
at once inspired with an interest and confidence which 
led him to accord the aid we had requested. 

A few days after the battle of Germantown, there 
were skirmishes at Whitemarsh, near which Sir Wil- 
liam Howe was posted with twelve thousand men. 
General Washington's position being an advantageous 
one, he did not choose to leave it in order to attack the 
British in their chosen position ; and Howe being equally 
unwilling to quit his ground, no general engagement 
took place, and after three days' manoeuvring, the Brit- 
ish army suddenly retreated to Philadelphia. 

As it was now the middle of December, winter 
quarters became the matter of deepest concern, for the 
men had not even clothing to keep them warm under 



1777.] WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE. 331 

cover, so destitute bad they been left of all necessary 
supplies. Shoes bad come to be a luxury enjoyed only 
by the fortunate, and a blanket, with or without holes, 
was shared by as many as could creep under it. Sur- 
rounded as the army was by the disaffected and the 
timid, money would hardly buy what was needed, and 
even money was very scarce. 

In this distressed state was the encampment at 
Valley Forge — a name of sad memory so long as the 
American heart shall beat — begun and continued. The 
spot lies about twenty miles from Philadelphia, be- 
tween the banks of the Schuylkill and a line of hills ; — 
a pleasant scene in summer or autumn, when one visits 
it in peace and comfort ; but in the long months of that 
dreadful winter, with scarcely shelter and sustenance 
for bare life, a melancholy desert, though teeming with 
human beings. It had been selected by Washington, 
after a vain attempt to obtain a guiding opinion from a 
council of war, as being near enough to Philadelphia 
to be aware of the enemy's movements ; and also for 
the reason that the interior of the State was occupied 
by families from Philadelphia, who must necessarily be 
much distressed by the scarcity that would result from 
the presence of an army in the country. The men be- 
gan to erect huts or log-houses on the 18th of Decem- 
ber, and as far as was possible Washington, who super- 
intended the whole work in person, tried to make the 
thing tolerable, by offering a reward in money to who- 
ever should invent the Lest mode of roofing, and by 



332 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1777. 

placing the troops from the same State in neighbor- 
hoods. Then the camp had to be intrenched, and a 
bridge to be built across the Schuylkill, in order to 
keep open a communication with the country. Scarcely 
was all this completed, when information was received 
which rendered it probable that a detachment of the 
enemy had left Philadelphia, with intentions that would 
make it necessary to be prepared to meet them. 

When troops were detached for this purpose, it was 
found that the absolute distress prevailing had so far 
impaired discipline, that a mutiny might be expected 
if the men were ordered on duty without proper sup- 
plies of food and clothing. 

" Not a single hoof to slaughter," says "Washing- 
ton, " and not more than twenty-five barrels of flour ! " 
Eleven thousand men in this condition weighed heavy 
on the soul of a commander, even though he and his 
officers shared generously in the privations of the 
troops. A glance at the general orders of that dread- 
ful time, will show what were the labors and trials of 
the commander-in-chief. Yet there were some people 
reasonable enough to wonder that the army was lying 
idle, and to suggest that a winter campaign should have 
been attempted ! This was a little too much, even for 
Washington, and he bursts out in a tone quite unusual 
with him, in his grave and measured despatches to Con- 
gress : — 

" We find gentlemen, without knowing whether the 
army was really going into winter quarters or not (for 



1778 PATIENCE OF THE TROOPS. 333 

I am sure no resolution of mine would warrant the 
Remonstrance), reprobating the measure as much as if 
they thought the soldiers were made of stocks and 
stones, and equally insensible of frost and snow. 
* * * I can assure those gentlemen that it is a much 
easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances 
in a comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to oc- 
cupy a cold, bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow, 
without clothes or blankets. However, although they 
seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed 
soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them, and, from my 
soul, I pity those miseries, which it is neither in my 
power to relieve or prevent." 

By way of compensation or consolation for extraor- 
dinary sufferings, Congress ordered one month's extra 
pay to be given as a reward for " soldierly patience, 
fidelity and zeal in the cause of the country," and 
Washington declares that he shall take esj3ecial care 
that none shall get it who do not deserve it. 

Mrs. Washington spent this winter, as she did the 
others of the war, in the camp, and made herself very 
popular with the men by the interest she showed in 
their wants, and by the entirely simple and self-denying 
style of her own requisitions. The general had one of 
the log huts, sixteen feet in length by fourteen in 
width, to himself, and Mrs. Washington announces to 
a female friend that he had had " another hut built to 
dine in," which made their quarters " much more com- 
fortable." She occupied herself in making shirts for 



334 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. f 1778 - 

the soldiers, who were many of them reduced to one 
or even none, and in visiting and relieving those whose 
sufferings became especially known to her. Her quiet 
and housewifely habits, and the gentle influence she 
exerted, no doubt contributed to allay the irritability 
natural to a body of men suffering under such priva- 
tions ; for nothing can be more like insult to the poor 
hungry, shivering soldier, than the sight of luxury and 
self-indulgence in his superiors— too often witnessed in 
camp, if we may believe the records of military life. 

"Washington's solicitude for the army was incessant, 
and his sympathy with its deprivations and sufferings 
appears in almost every letter he writes. This period, 
sad and dark as it was, was further embittered to Wash- 
ington, by the discovery of a virulent faction against 
himself. Anonymous letters were the principal means 
resorted to, and members of Congress, as well as offi- 
cers of the army, were not ashamed to adopt this cow- 
ardly and despicable mode of injuring a man, whom 
they dared not attack in any way more manly or re- 
spectable. Washington was sensitive, as any man with 
a heart in his bosom must be under such circumstances. 
He had perilled all, done all, suffered all, that the 
heavy time required. All through the war, he had la- 
mented the imperfection of supplies, and all the un- 
toward deficiences of the means placed at his disposal ; 
and had wearied Congress with his faithful representa- 
tions of the disadvantages that must arise from such a 
want of plan in these respects, Congress, with a nut- 



1778 -3 TRIALS OF THE TIME. 335 

ural dread of the increase of military power, much in- 
creased by the jealousy and dislike of General "Wash- 
ington entertained by some of its members, was often 
fitful and arbitrary in measures of relief for the army, 
and, from its distance from the scene of action — the 
means of communication being then slow and uncer- 
tain — often failed to give even what it intended to 
grant, until after the favorable moment had passed. 
This, to a temperament like Washington's, was trying 
beyond all that can be described. Every thing at stake 
— the cause of liberty, the credit of the army, and his 
own fame, justly very dear to him — it was agonizing to 
live in this suspense, and most wearisome to be inces- 
santly contriving to keep up appearances to the enemy, 
and to meet the expectations of the country, with an 
exhausted military chest and a wretched commissariat. 
But to have, added to all this, the certainty that there 
was a powerful cabal against him, which drew its main 
strength from his failure to keep the British out of 
Philadelphia, — an achievement totally impossible with 
the men and means at his disposal, — was cruel indeed, 
and he felt it most severely. 

General Gates was more than suspected of hav- 
ing lent himself to the scheme of detraction ; but the 
main actors in the drama were General Conway and 
General Mifflin. 

Here is a small specimen of an anonymous letter 
addressed to Congress : — 

"The head cannot possibly be sound when the 



336 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [17?8. 

whole body is disordered ; the people of America have 
been guilty of idolatry in making a man their god, and 
the God of heaven and earth will convince them, by 
woful experience, that he is only a man. No good may 
be expected from the standing army, until Baal and his 
worshippers are banished from the camp." 

It was not that "Washington expected or desired 
that his public conduct should be exempted from re- 
mark or blame. He frequently, in the letters he wrote 
during this affair, expresses himself entirely willing to 
submit his character and the management of the war 
to the judgment of his countrymen. It was that 
men who professed, to his face, the greatest regard and 
approval, should be working to undermine him, so 
that he must necessarily feel insecure on all sides, 
hardly knowing whether there was about him a friend 
to whom he could safely trust. This gave the sting to 
censure, and added yet a shade of depression to his 
winter at Valley Forge. 

But no sooner was the conspiracy made public, 
which it was by the disclosure of part of one of Gen- 
eral Conway's letters to General Gates, let slip by an 
imprudent friend over a late dinner-table, — than Wash- 
ington's friends rallied about him, vying with each 
other who should express most warmly his esteem and 
confidence in the commander-in-chief. 

Patrick Henry generously avowed his regard for 
Washington, and his detestation of the concealed as- 
sassins, in two or three warm letters. " I really think," 



1778 1 

°'J FKIENDS AGAINST ENEMIES. 337 

he says, « your persona] welfare and the happiness of 
America are intimately connected." « While you face 
the armed enemies of our country in the field, and by 
the favor of God have been kept unhurt, I trust your 
country will never harbor in her bosom the miscreant 
who would ruin her best supporter. I wish not to flat- 
ter; but where arts unworthy honest men are used to 
defame and traduce you, I think it not amiss, but a 
duty, to assure you of the estimation in which the pub- 
lic hold you." 

The beloved Lafayette pours out his heart in a co- 
pious flow of affection, and Washington's feelings had 
been so wounded by the unmasking of these pretended 
friends, that he was warm in his gratitude to the real 
ones. To the marquis he writes : — 

" My dear Marquis, your favor of yesterday con- 
veyed to me fresh proof of that friendship and at- 
tachment which I have happily experienced since the 
first of our acquaintance, and for which I entertain 
sentiments of the purest affection. It will ever consti- 
tute part of my happiness to know that I stand well in 
your opinion.* * * * 

" The other observations contained in your letter 
have too much truth in them, and it is much to be la- 
mented that things are not now as they formerly were. 
But we must not, in so great a contest, expect to meet 
with nothing but sunshine. I have no doubt but that 
every thing happens for the best ; that we shall tri- 
umph over all misfortunes, and in the end be happy ; 



338 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. L 1778 - 

when, my dear Marquis, if you give me your company 
in Virginia, we may laugh at our past difficulties and 
the folly of others." 

As soon as the intrigue was thus accidentally brought 
to light, every body concerned was anxious to rid him- 
self of the suspicion of having taken part in it, and it 
is amusing to see the twists and glosses ingeniously de- 
vised to make something seem nothing, and enmity ap- 
pear like manly frankness. General Conway, who, 
though perhaps not the most guilty, was made in a con- 
siderable degree the scape-goat, very soon lost his short- 
lived favor with Congress, and fell into general dises- 
teem, from his vanity and want of principle. A hint 
at resignation was caught at in order to be rid of him, 
and Congress actually accepted a resignation which 
never was made. After this his offensive manners in- 
volved him in a duel, and he received a wound sup- 
posed to be mortal. At this solemn juncture, when he 
was trying to make his peace with Heaven, he wrote 
thus to Washington : — 

" Philadelphia, 23d July, 1778. 

« g mj — i fi nc i myself just able to hold the pen during 
a few minutes, and take this opportunity of expressing 
my sincere grief for having done, written, or said any 
thing disagreeable to your Excellency. My career will 
soon be over ; therefore justice and truth prompt me to 
declare my last sentiments. You are in my eyes the 
great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, 



J exertions in behalf op the army. 3.39 

veneration and esteem of these States, whose liberties 
you have asserted by your virtues. I am with the 
greatest respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

" Thomas Conway." 

This late repentance must be accepted as some 
atonement for his offence against Washington ; and as 
lor the injury he did the cause, and the far greater in- 
jury which might have ensued from his machinations 
and those of his more cunning abettors, we can only 
rejoice that Providence watched over the young repub- 
lic, and saved it from a blow that might have been fa- 
tal. 

But although, in a biography of Washington, we 
could not refuse a considerable space to the history of 
a cabal so nearly concerning his honor, it is well known 
that he himself never gave personal matters more than 
a secondary place. 

He was much more anxiously occupied, during the 
winter of 1777-78 in procuring from Congress what he 
considered an act of justice to the army, than in fer- 
reting out conspiracies against himself. 

The particular measure advocated by him at this 
time was a provision of half-pay for life, or something 
equivalent to it, for every officer engaged in the war, 
himself excepted. 

" Personally," he says, " as an officer, I have no in- 
terest in their decision, because I have declared, and I 



340 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1778. 

now repeat it, that I will never receive the smallest 
benefit from the half-pay establishment ; but, as a man 
who fights under the weight of a proscription, and as a 
citizen who wishes to see the liberty of his country 
established upon a permanent foundation, and whose 
property depends upon the success of our arms, I am 
deeply interested." 

He urges the measure very warmly : — 

"No order of men in the thirteen States has paid 
a more sacred regard to the proceedings of Congress 
than the army ; for without arrogance or the smallest 
deviation from truth it may be said, that no history 
now extant can furnish an instance of an army's suf- 
fering such uncommon hardships as ours has done, 
and bearing them with the same patience and forti- 
tude. 

" To see men, without clothes to cover their naked- 
ness, without blankets to lie on, without shoes (for the 
want of which their marches might be traced by the 
blood from their feet), and almost as often without pro- 
visions as with them, marching through the frost and 
snow, and at Christmas taking up their winter-quarters 
within a clay's march of the enemy, without a house or 
hut io cover them till it could be built, and submitting 
without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obe- 
dience, which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled." 

Congress did not quite come up to Washington's 
ideas in regard to the matter, but conceded half-pay 
for seven years after the conclusion of the war, to those 



1778.] ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 341 

officers who should have sworn allegiance, and who 
should continue to reside in the United States. Als< > a 
bounty of eighty dollars in money, to every non-com- 
missioned officer and soldier who should continue in 
the service until that time. This was a noble achieve- 
ment, and served further to endear the commander-in- 
chief to his soldiers. 

But the great event of the winter was the espousal 
by France of the American cause, the recognition of 
American independence, and the signing of a treaty of 
amity and alliance, dating from the 6th of February, 
1778. 

The news of the treaty arrived at Yorktown, where 
Congress was sitting, on the 2d of May, ten days after 
Lord North's " Bills of conciliation " had been rejected, 
as offering terms which, however acceptable they might 
have proved in the beginning of the contest, were now 
wholly unsatisfactory. 

General Howe made no attempt on the camp during 
the winter, but his foraging parties were watched and 
often severely handled by the Americans. When Dr. 
Franklin, who was in Paris, was told that General Howe 
had taken Philadelphia, " Say rather," he replied, " that 
Philadelphia has taken General Howe," and the ad- 
vantage was certainly a problematical one. Philadel- 
phia was evacuated by the British on the 18th of June, 
1776, General Clinton having superseded General Howe 
who returned to England in the spring. 

Great efforts were made to harass the retreating 



342 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1778. 

army, though the general opinion of the officers, except 
Washington, was adverse to an attempt to attack so far 
superior a force ; one, too, which had been quietly 
housed all winter, well clothed, and abundantly fed, 
while our troops had, as we have seen, suffered priva- 
tions that try the bravest spirit, and depress, for the 
time, the most determined energy. General Lee, who 
had by this time, after infinite difficulty and trouble on 
the part of Washington and the Congress, been ex- 
changed, was particularly opposed to an attack, and in 
his usual tempestuous manner, represented it as fool- 
hardy under the circumstances. But General Lee's 
opinions were by this time received with less deference 
than when he was in the heyday of his popularity. 

In six days from the time the camp at Valley Forge 
was broken up, the whole army had crossed the Dela- 
ware, and were on Sir Henry Clinton's traces, only six 
miles behind him, as he hastened toward New York 
with his army. 

On the 29th of June, the commander-in-chief sent 
the following despatch to Congress — 

"Fields, near Monmouth Couet-House, 29th June, 1778. 

" Sik, — I have the honor to inform you, that about 
seven o'clock yesterday morning both armies advanced 
on each other. About twelve, they met on the 
grounds near Monmouth Court-House, when an action 
commenced. "We forced the enemy from the field, and 
encamped on the ground. They took a strong post in 



1778 BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 343 

our front, secured on both flanks by morasses and thick 
woods, where they remained till about twelve at night, 
and then retreated. I cannot at this tiine go into a de- 
tail of matters. When opportunity wiJl permit I shall 
take the liberty of transmitting to Congress a more par- 
ticular account of the proceedings of the day. 

" I have the honor to be, &c." 

Mr. Custis relates of this affair, that before the battle, 
as the general with a numerous suite was approaching 
the Court-House, he was met by a lifer boy who said, as if 
it was the most natural thing in the world, " They are 
all coming this way, your honor ! " " Who are coming, 
my little man ? " asked General Knox. " Why our boys, 
your honor, our boys, and the British right after them." 
" Impossible ! " exclaimed Washington, and spurred on 
at full gallop, only to find, to his great pain and morti- 
fication, that the boy's intelligence was but too true. 
The very elite of the American army, five thousand 
picked men and officers, were in full retreat, closely 
pursued by the enemy. One of the aids now galloped 
up with a message from La Fayette, saying that the 
presence of the commander-in-chief was greatly needed 
at the scene of action. 

The first inquiry of the chief was for Major-general 
Lee, who commanded the advance, and during the in- 
terview which followed occurred one of the few instances 
that history or tradition records, of Washington's losing 
command of his temper in public. 



344 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. P778 

What he said to General Lee has never been re- 
peated by those who heard it ; but it was doubtless as 
strong an expression as passion could invent, or lan- 
guage utter. 

u Why this ill-timed prudence, sir?" was the 
question. 

Lee with the most insolent air replied : " I know no 
man better supplied with that rascally virtue than your 
Excellency." 

" Will you command on this ground or not? " 

" It is equal with me, where I command." 

" Then I shall expect you to take proper measures to 
check the enemy," said the general, much incensed. 

' ; Your orders shall be obeyed," replied Lee, " and 
I will not be the first to leave the field." And his 
bravery made it evident that an uncontrolled temper 
was the fault for which he afterwards suffered so severe- 
ly, under the sentence of a court-martial. 

To one of his aids who sprang to the ground with 
some ill-considered expression of excitement, Washing- 
ton said, pointing to the horse which was grazing by the 
road side, " You will take your horse, sir, if you please." 
The general afterwards ordered Colonel Stewart and 
Lieutenant-colonel Ramsay, with their regiments, to 
check the advance of the enemy, which service was 
gallantly performed, while he himself proceeded to form 
a second line. " Follow your general ! " he cried, wav- 
ing his sword above his head as he spurred forward, 
and the broken lines began at once to return to order. 



1778.] A SUPERB FIGURE. 345 

He rode on that day (for the only time during the war) 
a white charger that had been presented to him, and 
from the overpowering heat, and the deep and sandy 
nature of the soil, the poor horse sank under his rider 
and died on the spot. 

It was upon a beautiful chesnut horse that he rode 
along the lines cheering the soldiers, in the familiar and 
endearing language always used by the officers in the 
Revolution, " Stand fast, my boys ! and receive your 
enemy ; the Southern line are advancing to support ye ! " 
The person of Washington, always graceful, dignified 
and commanding, showed to peculiar advantage on that 
occasion. The good La Fayette, during his last visit to 
America, delighted to talk of the " times that tried 
men's souls," and from that venerated friend of our 
country, we derive a graphic description of Washington 
on the field of battle. La Fayette said : " At Monmouth 
I commanded a division, and it may be supposed was 
pretty well occupied ; still I took time, amid the roar 
and confusion of the conflict, to admire our beloved 
chief, who rode along the lines, mounted on a splendid 
charger, amid the shouts of the soldiers, cheering them 
by his voice and example, and restoring the fortunes 
of the fight. I thought then, as now, that I never had 
beheld so superb a man." 

Heedless of the remonstrances and entreaties of his 
officers, the commander-in-chief exposed himself under 
a burning sun to every danger throughout the action, 
and his high and chivalric daring made his friends the 



346 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1778. 

more anxious for the preservation of a life so dear to 
all, and so important to the success of the common 
cause. 

While he was reconnoitring the enemy from an ele- 
vated part of the" field, a round shot from the British 
artillery struck but a little way from his horse's feet, 
throwing up the earth over his person and then bound- 
ing harmlessly away. 

This some of the bystanders construed into a con- 
firmation of the prophecy said to have been made by 
an old Indian who saw him at Braddock's defeat, — 
" The Great Spirit protects him, he cannot die in bat- 
tle." 

When night came, he lay down in his cloak at the 
foot of a tree, in the midst of his soldiers, hoping for a 
general action the next day. But in the morning, Sir 
Henry Clinton was gone too far for pursuit under such 
killing heat — the thermometer at 96°. Many on both 
sides had perished without a wound, from fatigue and 
thirst. 

A ludicrous occurrence varied the incidents of this 
28th of June, which Mr. Custis describes as follows : 

" The servants of the general officers were usually 
well armed and mounted. Will Lee, or ' Billy,' the 
former huntsman and favorite body servant of the gen- 
eral, a square, muscular figure and capital horseman, 
paraded a corps of valets, and, riding pompously at 
their head, proceeded to an eminence crowned by a 
large sycamore tree, from which could be seen an ex- 



1778.] SCAMPER OF VALETS. 347 

tensive portion of the field of battle. Here Billy halted, 
and having unstrung the large telescope he always car- 
ried in a leather case, with a martial air applied it to 
his eye and reconnoitred the enemy. Washington hav- 
ing observed these manoeuvres of the corps of valets, 
pointed them out to his officers, observing, ' See those 
fellows collecting on yonder heights ; the enemy will 
fire on them to a certainty.' Meanwhile the British 
were not unmindful of the assemblage on the height, 
and perceiving a burly figure well mounted and with 
a telescope in hand, they determined to pay their re- 
spects to the group. A shot from a six-pounder passed 
through the tree, cutting away the limbs, and pro- 
ducing a scampering among the corps of valets, that 
caused even the countenance of the general-in-chief to 
relax into a smile." 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Arrival of Count d'Estaing — Hindrances and disasters — Disagreement between French, 
and American officers — Letter to La Fayette — Impatience of the people — Gener- 
osity of La Fayette. 

The arrival of a French fleet, under the command of 
Count d'Estaing, was the most important occurrence of 
1778, and Washington began immediately to contrive 
ways and means of co-operation which should bring 
our new allies at once into action. 

The first plan was for the fleet to enter New York 
harbor by Sandy Hook, and attack the British by water, 
while the army made an onset on the land side. But 
the Count's heavy frigates would not go over the Bar, 
so they were sent round to Newport, Rhode Island, 
where it was intended to make a similar attempt, the 
British having some vessels of war there, and six thou- 
sand troops strongly intrenched. But this plan also 
failed from various accidents ; especially through the 
damage sustained by the French fleet in a heavy storm. 
Count d'Estaing was a good deal blamed for the course 
he pursued on the occasion, and suspected of some 
sacrifice of the good of the cause he came to aid, be- 



1778.] FRENCH COUNT'S ADDRESS. 349 

cause instead of attacking the ships in the harbor, and 
so co-operating with General Sullivan who was to be 
ready on the land-side to second him, he stood out to 
sea hoping to meet the whole British fleet, which he 
had some reason to think might be hovering there. 

Some very hard things were said by the American 
officers, which the Count felt deeply ; but his conduct on 
the occasion was such as to shame those who had, in their 
hasty zeal, forgotten what was due to a gallant and ex- 
perienced officer, sent by a foreign power to our assist- 
ance in the darkest hour of our trial. The Count's first 
letter on his arrival was expressed in the warmest 
style : 

" I have the honor to inform your Excellency of the 
arrival of the King's fleet, charged by his Majesty with 
the glorious task of giving his allies, the United States 
of America, the most striking proofs of his esteem. If 
I can succeed in it, nothing will be wanting to my hap- 
piness ; and this will be augmented by the consider- 
ation of concerting my operations with such a general 
as your Excellency. 

" The talents and great actions of General Wash- 
ington have secured to him, in the eyes of all Europe, 
the truly sublime title of the liberator of America. 
Accept, sir, the homage, which every man, especially 
every military man, owes you ; and be not displeased 
that I solicit, even in the first instance of intercourse. 
with military and naval frankness, a friendship so flat- 
tering as yours. I will endeavor to render myself 



350 MEMOIRS OF "WASHINGTON. [1778. 

worthy of it by my respectful devotion to your coun- 
try. It is prescribed to me by my orders, and my 
heart accords with it." 

Washington replied in corresponding terms, and left 
nothing undone to afford the Count both information 
and co-operation in his attempts ; but the Newport 
plan was a complete failure ; the troops who were to 
reinforce General Sullivan not arriving in time, and 
the fleet, as we have seen, having been much injured 
by a storm, and obliged to go to Boston for repairs. 

In a letter to a friend, at this stage of affairs, Wash- 
ington says : 

" It is not a little pleasing, nor less wonderful to 
contemplate, that after two years' manoeuvring and un- 
dergoing the strangest vicissitudes that perhaps ever 
attended any one contest since the creation, both armies 
are brought back to the very point they set out from ; 
and that the offending party at the beginning is now 
reduced to the use of the spade and pickaxe for de- 
fence. 

" The hand of Providence has been so consjucuous 
in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that 
lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not grati- 
tude enough to acknowledge his obligations. 

" But it will be time enough to turn preacher when 
my present appointment ceases ; and therefore I shall 
add no more on the doctrine of Providence ; but make 
a tender of my best respects to your good lady, the 



1778.] APOLOGUES OF WASHINGTON. 351 

secretary, and other friends, and assure you, that, with 
the most perfect regard, I am, dear sir, &c." 

The unhappy difference of opinion between the 
French and American officers, so warmly and even 
rudely expressed by the latter, gave Washington a new 
cause of uneasiness, and involved him in endless annoy- 
ings, persuadings and pacifyings. 

He writes to La Fayette : 

" In one w r ord let me say, I feel every thing that 
hurts the sensibility of a gentleman, and consequently 
upon the present occasion I feel for you and for our 
good and great allies the French. I feel myself hurt, 
also, at every illiberal and unthinking reflection which 
may have been cast upon the Count d'Estaing, or the 
conduct of the fleet under his command ; and lastly I 
feel for my country. 

" Let me entreat you, therefore, my dear marquis, 
to take no exceptions at unmeaning expressions, uttered 
perhaps without consideration, and in the first transport 
of disappointed hope. Every body, sir, who reasons, 
will acknowledge the advantages which we have de- 
rived from the French fleet, and the zeal of the com- 
mander of it ; but in a free and republican government, 
you cannot restrain the voice of the multitude. 

" Every man will speak as he thinks, or, more pro- 
perly, without thinking, and consequently will judge 
of effects without attending to the causes. The cen- 
sures which have been levelled at the officers of the 



352 MKMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1778. 

French fleet, would more than probably have fallen in 
a much higher degree upon a fleet of our own, if we 
had one in the same situation. It is the nature of man 
to be displeased with every thing that disappoints a 
favorite hope or a flattering project; and it is the folly 
of too many of them to condemn without investigating 
circumstances. 

" Let me beseech you, therefore, my good sir, to af- 
ford a healing hand to the wound that unintentionally 
has been made. 

" America esteems your virtues and your services, 
and admires the principles upon which you act. Your 
countrymen in our army look up to you as their patron. 
The Count and his officers consider you as a man high 
in rank, and high in estimation here and also in France ; 
and I, your friend, have no doubt but you will use your 
utmost endeavors to restore harmony ; that the honor, 
glory, and mutual interests of the two nations may be 
promoted and cemented in the firmest manner. 

" I would say more on the subject, but am restrained 
for the want of time ; and therefore shall only add, that, 
with every sentiment of esteem and regard, I am, my 
dear marquis, &c." 

It cannot but be allowed that the Count d'Estaing 
behaved throughout, not only in the most gentlemanly 
but the most gallant manner, and that his name ought 
to be held in honor by all true Americans. 

The officers having drawn up in no measured terms 
a " Protest " against the sailing of the French fleet from 
13* 



17 79.] PROFESSIONAL ETIQUETTE. 353 

Newport, "Washington exerted his utmost influence in 
every direction to prevent so unbecoming a paper from 
being made public. 

Count d'Estaing afterwards wrote to General Sulli- 
van, merely noticing the Protest, by saying that it was 
of such a nature as to impose on the king's squadron 
the necessity of passing it over in silence, and adding 
that no offence had been given which would affect his 
conduct. To prove this, he offered to put himself un- 
der General Sullivan's orders, adding — " My opinion 
upon the measures to be taken need never restrain 
yours. 

" It shall not only be subject to yours, but even re- 
main unrevealed whenever you shall not require me to 
give it." 

" I should not have taken this step," he wrote to 
"Washington, " with the idea of strengthening an army 
with such a handful of men, nor of proving what is al 
ready known, that the French nation can sacrifice life 
with a good grace ; but I was anxious to demonstrate, 
that my countrymen could not be offended by a sudden 
expression of feeling; and that he who had the honor 
of commanding them in America, was and would be at 
all times one of the most devoted and zealous servants 
of the United States." 

"Winter-quarters of 1778-9 were on the west of the 
Hudson — "Hudson's Kiver," as "Washington and all 
the rest of the world called it, at that time— in detached 
positions from "West Point to Middlebrook, New Jersey. 



354 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1779. 

Washington's head-quarters were established at Middle- 
brook, where the winter passed quietly, drilling and 
preparing the troops being the principal military busi- 
ness. 

Great projects had been set on foot, very attractive 
on paper or in imagination, but requiring an amount 
of men and money that existed for the United States 
only in cloud-land. The conquest of Canada was only 
one of these splendid plans. But when the command- 
er-in-chief came to be consulted, grand ideas were ne- 
cessarily brought in contact with figures, with past ex- 
perience, the state of the country and the exhausted 
condition of the military chest, — the paper currency 
having already begun seriously to depreciate. 

Washington spent five anxious weeks at Philadel- 
phia, arguing with Congress on the impracticability of 
its schemes, risking his own popularity, of course ; for 
the country was hungry for some dashing achievement, 
and the enemies of the chief perpetually made a handle 
of his dilatoriness, and held up to ridicule and contempt 
his steady pursuit of the original idea of wearying out 
a superior enemy, contemptuously designated by what 
was once a word of praise — the Fabian policy. 

He was quite sensible of this, and suffered under it, 
for he was Roman enough to be solicitous for the ap- 
probation of his fellow-citizens. But he was far more 
anxious about what he considered the depreciation of 
Congress, by the withdrawal of those great and noble 
spirits, to whom was chiefly owing all that had been 



1779 MONOPOLIZERS. 355 

done in the cause of Independence. Few of these were 
now left, and the number of members that attended the 
deliberations was sometimes reduced to twenty-one. 
Washington laments this in many letters. 

Another trouble was the effort of some nefarious 
pursuers of selfish gain, to buy up and monopolize cer- 
tain articles of the first necessity, thus increasing very 
injuriously the difficulty of providing for the army. 

" It is most devoutly to be wished, that some happy 
expedient could be hit upon to restore credit to our 
paper emissions, and punish the infamous practice of 
forestalling and engrossing such articles as are essen- 
tially necessary to the very existence of the army, and 
which, by this means, come to it through the hands of 
these people at fifty per cent, advance, to the great in- 
jury and depreciation of our money, by accumulating 
the quantum necessary for ordinary purposes to an 
amazing sum, which must end in a total stagnation of 
all purchases, unless some remedy can be soon and 
effectually applied. It is also most devoutly to be 
wished, that faction was at an end, and that those, to 
whom every thing dear and valuable is intrusted, would 
lay aside party views and return to first jninciples. 

" Happy, happy, thrice happy country, if such were 
the government of it ! But, alas ! we are not to expect 
that the path is to be strewed with flowers. That great 
and good Being who rules the universe has disposed 
matters otherwise, and for wise purposes I am per- 
suaded." 



35G MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1779. 

And again : " It is much to be lamented, that each 
State long ere this has not hunted them down as pests 
to society, and the greatest enemies we have to the hap- 
piness of America. I would to God, that some one of 
the most atrocious in each State was hung in gibbets 
upon a gallows five times as high as the one prepared 
by Hainan. ~No punishment, in my opinion, is too 
great for the man, who can build his greatness upon 
his country's ruin." 

The appointment of so many French officers to 
American commands, over the heads of those who had 
borne the brunt of the war, created, naturally, a good 
deal of dissatisfaction. 

Speaking of some French officers who had persuaded 
an American general to sign certificates written by 
themselves, General Washington observes, in a letter 
to Gouverneur Morris, " They are not bad in giving 
themselves a good character." 

After praising Baron Steuben, he breaks out, not- 
withstanding that eccentric officer's merit, with " I do 
most devoutly wish, that we had not a single foreigner 
among us, except the Marquis de Lafayette, who acts 
upon very different principles from those which govern 
the rest." Well might Lafayette be considered an 
exception to all general rules ! such zeal, such disinter- 
ested generosity, and such a love of liberty can hardly 
be paralleled. 

Before the battle of Monmouth, when General Lee 
was excessively opposed to attacking the enemy, he 



1779.] LAFAYETTE AND LEE. 357 

had, in one of his moods, voluntarily given up the 
command of the advance to Lafayette, but afterwards 
changing his mind, desired to resume the post he had 
relinquished. Washington, sure of Lafayette's gen- 
erosity, as he was of Lee's troublesome temper, invent- 
ed an expedient that was calculated to accommodate 
the difficulty, though it could hardly be satisfactory to 
either party ; putting Lee at the head of the additional 
brigades, with orders to join the advance, which would 
of course, as Lee was senior in rank, give him command 
of the whole. At the same time he wrote thus to his" 
friend : 

" Cranberry, 2Qth June, 1778. 

" My dear Marquis, — General Lee's uneasiness on 
account of yesterday's transaction rather increasing 
than abating, and your politeness in wishing to ease 
him of it, have induced me to detach him from this 
army with a part of it, to reinforce or at least cover the 
several detachments at present under your command. 

" At the same time that I felt for General Lee's dis- 
tress of mind, I have had an eye to your wishes, and 
the delicacy of your situation ; and have therefore ob- 
tained a promise from him, that, when he gives you 
notice of his approach and command, he will request 
you to prosecute any plan you may have already con- 
certed for the purpose of attacking or otherwise annoy- 
ing the enemy. This is the only expedient I could 
think of to answer the views of both. General Lee 



358 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1779. 

seems satisfied with the measure, and I wish it may 
prove agreeable to you, as I am, with the warmest 
wishes for your honor and glory, and with the sincer- 
est esteem and affection, Yours, &c." 

Lafa} r ette submitted with all the good-nature that 
Washington had counted upon, and this was not the 
only opportunity he had of doing so. 

After Lafayette had been sent to Ehode Island in 
command of a body of regulars and militia, July, 1778, 
Washington concluded to employ General Greene, who 
was a native of that State ; and in order to do this, it 
was necessary to divide the troops, thus giving Lafay- 
ette only half as many as he had at first commanded. 

Lafayette replies to the letter announcing this un- 
welcome change : 

" I have received your Excellency's favor by Gen- 
eral Greene, and have been much pleased with the ar- 
rival of a gentleman who, not only on account of his 
merit and the justness of his views, but by his know- 
ledge of the country and his popularity in this State, 
may be very serviceable to the expedition. I willingly 
part with half my detachment, since you find it for the 
good of the service, though I had great dependence on 
them. Any thing, my dear general, which you shall 
order, or can wish, will always be infinitely agreeable 
to me ; and I shall always be happy in doing any 
thing that may please you, or forward the public 
good." 



I779 -] THE COMFORTS OF A FRIEND. 359 

What a relief amid the cares and trials and eternal 
disputes and jealousies that wore out Washington's 
strength and patience, must have been the friendship 
and support of a soul like this ! The sweetness of La- 
fayette's temper, his inexhaustible vivacity and fresh- 
ness of interest in public affairs, and the warm affection 
he manifested, form, altogether, one of the most de- 
lightful of characters. Much as his name is revered 
among us lie has never been overrated. 



CHAPTEK XXXI. 

Washington at Philadelphia with Congress — Then in the country hunting squirrels — 
Devastations of the enemy on Long Island — Capture of Stony Point by General 
Wayne— Generous conductor Washington — General Lee*s questions — Dinner at 
West Point— Depreciation of the currency— Kindness of the ladies of Philadel- 
phia. 

"Washington remained through the winter and spring 
of 1779 at head-quarters at Middlebrook, with the ex- 
ception of five weeks passed in Philadelphia in confer- 
ence with Congress, of which he says : — " Were I to 
give way to private conveniency and amusement, I 
should not be able to resist the invitation of my friends 
to make Philadelphia, instead of a squeezed up room 
or two, my quarters for the winter. 

" But the affairs of the army require my constant 
attention and presence, and circumstanced as matters 
are at this time, call for some degree of care and ad- 
dress to keep it from crumbling. As peace and retire- 
ment are my ultimate aim, and the most pleasing and 
flattering hope of my soul, every thing promotive of 
this end contributes to my satisfaction, however diffi- 
cult and inconvenient in ihe attainment, and will re- 



1779 -] SQUIRREL-SHOOTING. 361 

concile any place and all circumstances to my feelings, 
whilst I continue in service." 

Tradition says he did not confine himself so strictly 
to " a squeezed up room or two," as not to find a little 
time for his favorite amusement of hunting. 

" Come, Cornelius," he would say to a hoy of fif- 
teen that used to wait on him, a son of the owner of a 
house he had occupied, " come, the day is so fine — sup- 
pose we see if we can't find some squirrels this morn- 
ing ? " And taking his long rifle, says Cornelius, who 
is still living to tell the story, the general, with his 
young companion and guide, would travel off miles in 
search of a kind of game that would hardly have 
tempted him far in the fox-hunting days of Mount 
Vernon. 

General Sir Henry Clinton showing every disposi- 
tion to get command of the Hudson, and having al- 
ready obtained possession of Stony Point and Yer- 
plank's Point, Washington removed to New Windsor, 
a few miles above West Point, whence the enemy en- 
deavored to seduce him, by devastations on the coast 
of Long Island Sound, but in vain. " The system of 
devastation and plunder," says Mr. Sparks, " was vig- 
orously pursued. * * * Dwelling-houses, shops, 
churches, school-houses, and the shipping in the har- 
bors were destroyed. The soldiers pillaged without re- 
straint, committing acts of violence, and exhibiting the 
horrors of war in some of their most revolting forms." 
Washington meanwhile was only watching for an op- 
16 



362 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [im- 

portunity to retake Stony Point, on the Hudson, which 
was accomplished, under his orders, by General Wayne, 
on the night of the 15th of July, 1779. AYashington, 
with his usual generosity, in writing to Congress in 
praise of General Wayne, says : — • 

" He improved upon the plan suggested by me, and 
executed it in a manner that does signal honor to his 
judgment and to his bravery. Every officer and man 
of the corps deserves great credit ; but there were par- 
ticular ones whose situation placed them foremost in 
danger, and made their conduct more conspicuous." 

The ordnance and other stores taken on this occa- 
sion, were estimated at $158,010 ; which amount was 
divided among the troops in proportion to the pay of 
the officers and men. 

Three different medals, emblematical of the action, 
were struck by order of Congress, bearing the names 
respectively of Wayne, Fleury and Stewart. 

General Washington's share was a vote of thanks 
from Congress, " for the vigilance, wisdom and mag- 
nanimity with which he had conducted the military 
operations of the States, particularly on the occasion 
of the late attack." 

The commander-in-chief now removed to West 
Point for the remainder of the season. 

There was but little of a military nature to enliven 
his stay there, but he was provided with excitement of 
a different sort by General Lee, who published anony- 
mously twenty-five " Queries Political and Military," 



1776.] CIVIL OBLIGATIONS. 363 

calculated both to wound and injure the commander- 
in-chief. Mr. Sparks quotes a few, by way of speci- 
men : — 

" "Whether it is salutary or dangerous, consistent 
with or abhorrent from the spirit and principles of lib- 
erty and republicanism, to inculcate and encourage in 
the people an idea, that their welfare, safety, and glory 
depend on one man ? Whether they really do depend 
on one man ? 

" Whether amongst the late warm, or rather loyal 
addresses of this city (Philadelphia), to his Excellency 
General Washington, there was a single mortal, one 
gentleman only excepted, who could possibly be ac- 
quainted with his merits. 

" Whether the gentleman excepted does really think 
his Excellency a great man, or whether evidences 
could not be produced of his thinking quite the re- 
verse ? 

u Whether the armies under Gates and Arnold, and 
the detachment under Stark to the northward, or that 
immediately under his Excellency in Pennsylvania, 
gave the decisive turn to the fortune of war ? " 

But envy and malignity were too obvious in these 
insidious attacks to allow their accomplishing the de- 
sign of the author, except as far as Washington's feel- 
ings were concerned. 

A certain letter to Dr. Cochrane, for the informa- 
tion of two ladies who had been invited to head-quar- 
ters to dine, shows that he was in tolerable spirits, 



364 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1776. 

sometimes, at least ; a mood we suspect, natural to 
Washington the man, though rare with "Washington 
the commander-in-chief : 

"West Point, 16 August, 1779. 

" Dear Doctor, — I have asked Mrs. Cochrane and 
Mrs. Livingston to dine with me to-morrow ; but am I 
not in honor bound to apprise them of their fare ? 

" Since our arrival at this happy sj:>ot we have had 
a ham, sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to grace the 
head of the table ; a piece of roast beef adorns the 
foot ; and a dish of beans, or greens, almost impercepti- 
ble, decorates the centre. When the cook has a mind 
to cut a figure, which, I presume, will be the case to- 
morrow, we have two beef-steak pies, or dishes of 
crabs, in addition, one on each side of the centre dish, 
dividing the space, and reducing the distance between 
dish and dish to about six feet, which, without them 
would be near twelve feet apart. Of late, he has had 
the surprising sagacity to discover, that apples will 
make pies ; and it is a question, if, in the violence of 
his efforts, we do not get one of apples, instead of hav- 
ing both of beef-steaks. If the ladies can put up with 
such entertainment, and will submit to partake of it on 
plates, once tin, now iron, (not become so by the labor 
of scouring,) I shall be happy to see them, and am, 
dear Doctor, yours, &c." 

Lafayette, who had already on several occasions 



1779.] INVITATION TO MOUNT VERNON. 365 

distinguished himself by his bravery and his generos- 
ity, was induced by the situation of his own country 
at this time, as well as by a desire to visit his family, 
to ask leave of Congress to return to France on fur- 
lough ; on which occasion several letters passed be- 
tween General Washington and himself, Lafayette's full 
of a characteristic ardor, and the graver general's, though 
more measured, expressing equal affection. One of 
the latter concludes thus : — 

" Whether in the character of an officer at the head 
of a corps of gallant Frenchmen, if circumstances 
should require this, whether as a major-general com- 
manding a division of the American army, or whether, 
after our swords and spears have given place to the 
ploughshare and pruning-hook, I see you as a private 
gentleman, a friend and companion, I shall welcome 
you with all the warmth of friendship to Columbia's 
shores ; and, in the latter case, to my rural cottage, 
where homely fare and a cordial reception shall be 
substituted for delicacies and costly living. 

" This, from past experience, I know you can sub- 
mit to ; and if the lovely partner of your happiness 
will consent to participate with us in such rural enter- 
tainment and amusements, I can undertake, in behalf 
of Mrs. Washington, that she will do every thing in 
her power to make Virginia agreeable to the marchion- 
ess. My inclinations and endeavors to do this cannot 
be doubted, when I assure you, that I love every body 
that is dear to you." 



366 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1779. 

Sir Hemy Clinton was beginning to be very weary 
of his position. " The precautions," he wrote home to 
his government, " that General Washington has had 
leisure to take (he had learned to say General Wash- 
ington now), make me hopeless of bringing him to a 
general action." And again — " To say truth, my Lord, 
my spirits are worn out by struggling against the con- 
sequences of many adverse incidents, which, without 
appearing to account for my situation, have effectually 
oppressed me." 

It is now well known that in point of fact, Sir Henry 
Clinton was by no means alone in his feeling of dis- 
couragement. The " Fabian policy " so despised by 
some aspiring spirits on this side of the water, had 
produced just the effect General Washington intended 
it should produce, in wearying the enemy, causing 
him enormous expense, and putting far off the hope 
of subduing a people so pertinacious and so patient in 
their defence. But the obstinacy of George III., and 
his hatred of the " rebels," knew no relenting. 

The French minister, M. Gerard, wrote to his gov- 
ernment about this time — " I have had many conver- 
sations with General Washington, some of which have 
continued for three hours. It is impossible for me 
briefly to communicate the fund of intelligence which 
I have derived from him. I will now say only, that I 
have formed as high an opinion of the powers of his ' 
mind, his moderation, his patriotism and his virtues, as 
I had before from common report conceived of his 



1779 DEPEECIATED MONET. 367 

military talents, and of the incalculable services he 
has rendered to his country." This was the French 
opinion, and many a cool-headed and far-seeing Briton 
was fast coming round to it. The French never knew, 
probably, how intolerably Washington was provoked 
by the Count de Grasse's failure to come to New York, 
to co-operate with liochambeau and himself in snatch- 
ing New York from Sir Henry Clinton. This was a 
darling scheme with the commander-in-chief, and when 
he found that Count de Grasse declined to unite in it, 
his anger knew no bounds. Colonel Pickering (who, by 
the by, seems disposed to make the most of any blem- 
ishes discoverable in "Washington) says that his attend- 
ants withdrew from the room, on what particular ac- 
count we are not told. But another report says that 
in the first transport of passion, Washington, forgetting 
his beloved Lafayette, cried out — " What a fool I was 
ever to trust a Frenchman ! " 

We may judge by the few instances made so much 
of, how rare were the occasions on which the command- 
er-in-chief, ever surrounded by observers, and subject 
to continual vexations and disappointments, gave the 
rein to passion, and forgot his habitual self-restraint. 

The worst evil of the time was the depreciation of 
the Continental currency, forty paper dollars being 
worth only one silver one. So enormous had become 
the price of provisions under these circumstances, that 
in providing for the army, who were the greatest suf- 
ferers, Congress was obliged to demand from each 



308 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

State the contribution of beef, pork, flour and other 
necessaries, to be lodged in convenient depots, subject 
to the order of the commander-in-chief. But this plan 
proved a failure, both on account of the opportunity 
for delay and dishonesty which it afforded, and be- 
cause of the expense of transportation. The army was 
worse off than ever, and the project of paying in kind 
was abandoned. 

There were several associations of ladies formed in 
the different States, who interested themselves in be- 
half of the army, and wished to know of the comman- 
der-in-chief how they might most usefully expend the 
money they had collected. He always begged them 
to furnish shirts. 

" To President Heed. 

" Head-Quarters, Whippany, 25 June, 1780. 

" Dear Sir, — I very much admire the patriotic 
spirit of the ladies of Philadelphia, and shall with 
great pleasure give them my advice, as to the applica- 
tion of their benevolent and generous donation to the 
soldiers of the army. Although the terms of the asso- 
ciation seem in some measure to preclude the purchase 
of any article which the public is bound to find, I 
would nevertheless recommend a provision of shirts, in 
preference to any thing else, in case the fund should 
amount to a sum ecpuivalent to a supply of eight or ten 
thousand. 

" The soldiers are exceedingly in want of them, and 



1780.] PAYING DEBTS LN BAD MONET. 369 

the public have never, for several years past, been able 
to procure a sufficient quantity to make them comfort- 
able. They are, besides, more capable of an equal and 
satisfactory distribution than almost any other article. 
Should the fund fall short of a supply of the number 
of shirts I have mentioned, perhaps there could be no 
better application of the money, than laying it out in 
the purchase of refreshments for the hospitals. 

" These are my ideas at present. When I have the 
pleasure of hearing more particularly from Mrs. Reed, 
I shall be able to form a more complete opinion." 

The States now passed laws making paper money a 
legal tender, even in case of debts contracted before 
the paper had been created. In spite of the dishonor- 
ableness, not to say dishonesty, involved in such trans- 
actions, many were found mean enough to take advan- 
tage of the law to pay old debts in the depreciated cur- 
rency. 

What Washington thought of this practice, may be 
imagined from the warmth of his remarks on it in his 
own case : — 

" The fear of injuring, by any example of mine, 
the credit of our paper currency, if I attempted to dis- 
criminate between the real and nominal value of paper 
money, has already sunk for me a large sum. If it be 
customary with others to receive money in this way, 
that is, sixpence or one shilling in the pound for old 
debts ; if it is thought to be promotive of the great 
16* 



370 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

cause we are embarked in for individuals to do so, ru- 
ining themselves while others are reaping the benefit 
of such distress ; if the law imposes this, and it is 
thought right to submit, I will not say aught against it, 
nor oppose another word to it. No man has gone, and 
no man will go further to serve the public than myself. 
If sacrificing my whole estate would effect any valua- 
ble purpose, I would not hesitate one moment in doing 
it. .But my submitting in matters of this kind, unless 
the same is done by others, is no more than a drop in 
the bucket. In fact, it is not serving the public, but 
enriching individuals and countenancing dishonesty ; 
for sure I am, that no honest man would attempt to 
pay twenty shillings with one, or perhaps half of one. 
In a word, I had rather make a present of the bonds 
than receive payment of them in so shameful a way." 
Mr. Sparks relates an incident in point : — 
" When the army was at Morristown, a man of re- 
spectable standing lived in the neighborhood, who was 
assiduous in his civilities to Washington, which were 
kindly received and reciprocated. 

" Unluckily this man paid his debts in the depre- 
ciated currency. Some time afterwards he called at 
head-quarters, and was introduced as usual to the gen- 
eral's apartment, where he was then conversing with 
some of his officers. He bestowed very little attention 
upon the visitor. The same thing occurred a second 
time, when he was more reserved than before. This 
was so different from his customary manner, that La- 



1780.] TRYING TO BE CIVIL. 371 

layette, who was present on both occasions, could not 
help remarking it, and he said, after the man was gone, 
' General, this man seems to be much devoted to you, 
and yet you have scarcely noticed him.' 

" Washington replied, smiling, ' I know I have not 
been cordial ; I tried hard to be civil, and attempted to 
speak to him several times, but that Continental money 
stopped my mouth .' " 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Sufferings of the troops — Treachery of Arnold— Capture and death of Major Andre — 
Letter to Mr. Laurens — Mutiny of the Pennsylvania line — Its suppression by 
lenity — Mutiny of the New Jersey line — Severity on this occasion — Letter to Dr. 
Franklin. 

Both British and Americans now standing on the de- 
fensive, and closely watching each other's movements, 
General Washington, who had been for a while on the 
east side of the Hudson, intending to attack Sir Henry 
Clinton in New York if any feasible opportunity pre- 
sented itself, recrossed -the river and encamped near 
Tappan. His troops, he says himself, " both officers 
and men," were sometimes " almost perishing for want, 
alternately without bread or meat, with a very scanty 
allowance of either — frequently destitute of both." 
" Our affairs," he says, " are in so deplorable a condi- 
tion on the score of provisions, as to fill the mind with 
the most anxious fears. Men half-starved, imperfectly 
clothed, and robbing the country people of their sub- 
sistence from sheer necessity." Such was his terrible 
picture, and the ground of his incessant urgency with 
Congress and with the governors of the several States. 



1780 -1 Arnold's treason. 373 

In 1780 Benedict Arnold, who had, in many in- 
stances during the war, proved himself a brave soldier, 
though his character in other respects had not been 
spotless, had charge of the important fortress at West 
Point and other posts commanding the Highlands. On 
these depended the communications between the dif- 
ferent portions of the army, as well as with the coun- 
try northward, from which large quantities of supplies 
were to be drawn for its use. 

Arnold's capacity as a soldier could not be doubted, 
and no one had dreamed that the faults of his private 
character were such as would be likely to interfere 
with his duty as a military commander. He was no 
worse than the great Duke of Marlborough, one of the 
most successful of modern generals, whom he resem- 
bled in some respects. Love of money and a general 
selfishness were his great faults, and they were of a 
kind to look particularly odious in a commander, at a 
time when so many men were perilling all in the ser- 
vice of their country at her utmost need. 

Arnold had been brought to trial, for some alleged 
want of integrity, while in command at Philadelphia 
after General Howe's evacuation, and the disgrace he 
then suffered probably rankled in his mind. At any 
rate, it is now well known, though then so little sus- 
pected, that he had in September, 1780, been fifteen 
months in correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, with 
a view of betraying his country ; and that he had sought 
the command of West Point and its dependencies, for 



374 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

the very purpose of doing this in the most effectual 
manner. 

General Washington had gone to Hartford, Con- 
necticut, to confer with the Count de Bochambeau, 
who had just arrived from France with troops for the 
service of the United States. General Greene was left 
in command during Washington's absence. This was 
judged a favorable opportunity for putting into opera- 
tion the treacherous scheme which had been so long 
concocting. 

Andre came up the river in the Vulture sloop-of- 
war as far as Haverstraw Bay, and, by appointment 
with Arnold, landed on the west side of the river, 
where the traitor awaited him. This was in darkness, 
as was fitting ; and at dawn, Arnold persuaded Andre 
to go to a house not far off, where he could lie con- 
cealed during the day. The villain then went quietly 
back to West Boint, and took his usual place among 
honest men and faithful soldiers, without a blush. 
What was gnawing at his heart, we can only guess. 

Major Andre, with his life in his hand, and risking 
it for what he considered his duty to his sovereign, 
committed an error in laying off his regimentals at the 
house where he had been concealed, and putting on a 
citizen's dress, the better to conceal his character in 
case he should be taken. 

According to the usages of war, this may be said to 
have cost him his life, or at least rendered it impossi- 
ble to save him when he came to trial ; because in his 



1780.] PAULDING, VAN WART AND WILLIAMS. 375 

military dress he might have been, by lenient construc- 
tion, considered only as a prisoner of war, while the 
disguise branded him at once as a spy. 

The following morning, Major Andre set off alone 
on horseback for New York, and while on his way, 
thinking himself safe under the disguise of " John An- 
derson," he was met and stopped by three young men 
of the militia, Paulding, Van Wart, and Williams, 
who searched him, and found papers in his boots. 
These papers were from General Arnold, and contained 
an exact account of the works at West Point, and other 
things that would be of advantage to the enemy. 

The young men committed their prisoner to the 
custody of Lieutenant-colonel Jameson, who, perfectly 
bewildered and beside his judgment, sent a messenger 
immediately to Arnold, informing him of the capture, 
while he despatched an express with the papers found 
on the person of Andre, to the commander-in-chief, 
then supposed to be on the road returning from Hart- 
ford. ' 

Poor Andre behaved like a man through all the 
sad scenes that followed. His accomplishments, his 
amiable character, and his graceful manners excited 
universal interest, and nothing was left untried to save 
him. It is said that Washington even tried to have 
Arnold stolen away from Sir Henry Clinton, in New 
York, in order that he might be able to send back An- 
dre in exchange — but all was unavailing. The last re- 
quest of the gallant officer was that he might be spared 



376 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

the rope, and die a soldier's death. But even this the 
stern laws of war forbade. A court-martial sentenced 
him, and Washington signed the death-warrant. Head- 
quarters at Tappan will always have a sad interest, 
from the circumstance that Major Andre there met his 
grievous fate. 

That General "Washington suffered severely under 
the necessity which obliged him, by the rules of war, 
to sanction the decision of the court-martial in this 
case, we have ample testimony ; and an eye-witness 
still living observed, that when the windows of the 
town were thronged with gazers at the stern procession 
as it passed, those of the commander-in-chief were en- 
tirely closed, and his house without sign of life except 
the two sentinels at the door. 

Mr. Sparks says : — " There was no stronger trait in 
the character of Washington than humanity ; the mis- 
fortunes and sufferings of others touched him keenly ; 
and his feelings were deeply moved at the part he was 
compelled to act in consenting to the death of Andre" ; 
yet justice to the office he held, and to the cause for 
which his countrymen were shedding their blood, left 
him no alternative." 

Only one more proof what a horrible thing is war ! 

The commander-in-chief wrote as follows, in answer 
to his friend Henry Laurens : 

" Head-quarters, Passaic Falls, Oct. 13///, 1780. 

" My deajr Laurens, — In no instance since the com- 



I780 DID ARNOLD KEPENT ? 377 

mencement of the war, has the interposition of Provi- 
dence appeared more remarkably conspicuous than in 
the rescue of the post and garrison of West Point from 
Arnold's villainous perfidy. How far he meant to in- 
volve me in the catastrophe of this place, does not ap- 
pear by any indubitable evidence ; and I am rather in- 
clined to think he did not wish to hazard the more 
important object of his treachery, by attempting to com- 
bine two events, the less of which might have marred 
the greater. A combination of extraordinary circum- 
stances, an unaccountable deprivation of presence of 
mind in a man of the first abilities, and the virtue of 
three militia men, threw the adjutant-general of the 
British forces, with full proof of Arnold's treachery, into 
our hands. But for the egregious folly, or the be- 
wildered conception, of Lieutenant-colonel Jameson, 
who seemed lost in astonishment, and not to know what 
he was doing, I should undoubtedly have got Arnold. 
Andre has met his fate,. and with that fortitude which 
was to be expected from an accomplished man and gal- 
lant officer ; but I am mistaken, if at this time, ' Arnold 
is undergoing the torment of a mental hell. ' * 

" He wants feeling. From some traits of his cha- 
racter, which have lately come to my knowledge, he 
seems to have been so hackneyed in villainy, and so 
lost to all sense of honor and shame, that, while his 
faculties will enable him to continue his sordid pur- 
suits, there will be no time for remorse." 

• Quoting the words of Mr. Laurens in a letter to which this is a reply 



378 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

The consequences which General Washington had 
long predicted, of the personal privations, amounting 
to distress, suffered by the army, came out in a very 
alarming shape on New- Year's night, 1781. An extract 
from a circular letter, from the commander-in-chief to 
the governors of several States tells the story. 

" It is with extreme anxiety and pain of mind I find 
myself constrained to inform your Excellency, that the 
event I have long apprehended would be the conse- 
quence of the complicated distresses of the army, has 
at length taken place. 

" On the night of the 1st instant, a mutiny was ex- 
cited by the non-commissioned officers and privates of 
the Pennsylvania line, which soon became so universal 
as to defy all opposition. In attempting to quell this 
tumult in the first instance, some officers were killed, 
others wounded, and the lives of several common sol- 
diers lost. Deaf to the arguments, entreaties, and ut- 
most efforts of all their officers to stop them, they 
moved off from Morristown, the place of their canton- 
ment, with their arms and six pieces of artillery. And, 
from accounts just received by General "Wayne's aide- 
de-camp, they were still in a body on their march to 
Philadelphia to demand a redress of their grievances. 
At what point this defection will stop, or how extensive 
it may prove, God only knows. 

" At present the troops at the important posts in 
this vicinity remain quiet, not being acquainted witli 
this alarming and unhappy affair ; but how long they 



1780 -J DANGEROUS MUTINY. 379 

will remain so cannot be ascertained, as they labor un- 
der some of the same pressing hardships as the troops 
who have revolted. 

" The aggravated calamities and distresses that have 
resulted from the total want of pay for nearly twelve 
months, the want of clothing at a severe season, and 
not unfrequently the want of provisions, are beyond de- 
scription. The circumstances will now point out much 
more forcibly what ought to be done, than any thing 
that can possibly be said by me on the subject." 

General "Washington, considering the apology the 
men had for their desperate conduct, was in favor of 
great leniency towards them. He advised General 
Wayne to encourage them to make a proper statement 
of their grievances, and promised to represent the case 
faithfully to Congress and the State of Pennsylvania, 
and endeavor to obtain redress. 

These judicious counsels had the efTect desired. A 
committee of Congress, joined by the President of 
Pennsylvania, met the revolters at Trenton, made 
proposals to them which were accepted, and they gave 
up their arms. 

But the evil did not stop here. So alarming were 
the symptoms of revolt at Morristown, that General 
Washington did not dare leave head-quarters, lest ad- 
vantage should be taken of even a short absence. 

The great fear was, in these cases, that overtures 
from the enemy would be urged upon the mutineers, 
which discontent and fear combined might induce them 



380 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

to accept. But the poor fellows had no idea of this. 
It was hunger and nakedness that drove them mad, not 
want of patriotism. General Wayne writes of them — 

" About four o'clock yesterday morning we were 
waked by two sergeants, who produced a letter from 
the enemy, enclosed in a small piece of tea-lead. They 
also brought under guard two caitiffs, who had under- 
taken to deliver it to the leaders of the malcontents. 

" The soldiers in general affect to spurn at the idea 
of turning Arnolds, as they express it." 

But on the 22d of January, three weeks after the 
first revolt had been treated with so much mildness and 
consideration, we have another circular letter with bad 
news : 

" I have received the disagreeable intelligence, that 
a part of the.Jersey line had followed the example of 
that of Pennsylvania ; and when the advices came 
away, it was expected the revolt would be general. 
The precise intention of the mutineers was not known, 
but their complaints and demands were similar to those 
of the Pennsylvanians." 

Persuaded that, without some decisive effort at all 
hazards to suppress this dangerous spirit, it would 
speedily infect the whole army, General Washington 
ordered as large a detachment as could be spared from 
other posts to march under Major-general Howe, with 
orders to compel the mutineers to unconditional sub- 
mission; to listen to no terms while they were in a 
state of resistance ; and, on their reduction, to execute 



1780.] SUBMISSION OF THE JERSEY LINE. 381 

instantly a few of the most active and incendiary lead- 
ers. 

Six hundred men were marched from Morristown 
to Ringwood, through mountain roads, in deep snow, 
and, arriving in the night, surrounded the mutineers 
and brought them to terms. 

" Some seemed willing to comply, but others ex- 
claimed, ' What ! No conditions ? Then if we are to 
die, it is as well to die where we are as any where else.' 
Some hesitation appearing among them, Colonel Sprout 
was directed to advance, and only five minutes were 
given the mutineers to comply with the orders, which 
had been sent to them. This had its effect, and they, 
to a man, marched without arms to the ground ap- 
pointed for them. The Jersey officers gave a list of 
those whom they thought the most atrocious offenders, 
upon which I desired them to select three (one of each 
regiment), which was accordingly clone. A field court- 
martial was presently held, and they received sentence 
of death by the unanimous decree of the court." 

Two were executed on the spot, the other reprieved 
as not so guilty as his fellows. In the general orders 
of January 30th, " The general returns his thanks to 
Major-general Howe for the judicious measures he pur- 
sued, and to the officers and men under his command, 
for the good conduct and alacrity with which they ex- 
ecuted his orders for suppressing the late mutiny in a 
part of the Jersey line. It gave him inexpressible pain 
to be obliged to employ their arms upon such an occa- 



382 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1780. 

sion, and he is convinced that they themselves felt all 
the reluctance which former affection to fellow-soldiers 
could inspire. 

" The general is deeply sensible of the sufferings of 
the army. He leaves no expedient unessayed to re- 
lieve them, and he is persuaded Congress and the 
several States are doing every thing in their power for 
the same purpose." 

The hardships and sufferings of war receive their 
most striking comment in such occurrences as this. To 
be starved and frozen, yet forced to suffer in silence ! 
We conclude a notice of the campaign of 1780, in the 
words of Washington himself, in a short letter to Dr. 
Franklin. 

" Bergen County, N. J., Oct. 11th, 1780. 

" Deak Sir, — I was very much obliged by the let- 
ter, which you did me the honor to write by our 
amiable young friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, 
whose exertions to serve this country in his own, are 
additional proofs of his zealous attachment to our cause, 
and have endeared him to us still more. He came out 
flushed with expectations of a decisive campaign, and 
fired with hopes of acquiring fresh laurels ; but in both 
he has been disappointed ; for we have been condemn- 
ed to an inactivity as inconsistent with the situation of 
our affairs, as with the ardor of his temper. 

" I am sensible of all I owe you, my dear sir, for 
your sentiments of me ; and while I am happy in your 



1780 LETTER TO DR. FRANKLIN. 383 

esteem, I cannot but wish for occasions of giving you 
marks of mine. 

" The idea of making a tour together, which you 
suggest, after the war, would be one of the strongest 
motives I could have to postpone my plan of retire- 
ment and make a visit to Europe, if my domestic 
habits, which seem to acquire strength from restraint, 
did not tell me I shall find it impossible to resist them 
longer than my duty to the public calls for the sacrifice 
of my inclinations. 

" I doubt not you are so fully informed by Congress 
of our political and military state, that it would be su- 
perfluous to trouble you with any thing relating to 
either. 

" If I were to speak on topics of this kind, it would 
be to show that our present situation makes one of two 
things essential to us, a peace, or the most vigorous aid 
of our allies, particularly in the article of money. Of 
their disposition to serve us we cannot doubt; their 
generosity will do every thing their means will permit. 
With my best wishes for the preservation of your useful 
life, and for every happiness that can attend you, 
which a sincere attachment can dictate, I am, &c." 



CHAPTEE XXXIH. 

Co-operation of the French fleet and array — Arnold's ravages in Virginia — Lafayette 
operating against Lord Cornwallis there — Story of Morgan — The French fleet sails 
for the Chesapeake — Washington, going to the seat of war with Count Kocham- 
beau, visits Mount Yernon for the first time since June, 1775. 

The EDglisli fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot, and the 
French one under M. Destouches, M. de Tilly and the 
Count de Rochambeau, spent several months of 1781 
trying to circumvent and supersede each other, with 
various success, the elements several times interfering 
with a power that neither could withstand. Xewport 
and the Chesapeake were alternately the theatre of op- 
erations, "Washington's judgment inclining toward the 
latter as the more advantageous of the two. 

Perhaps the circumstance that the detested traitor, 
Arnold, was proving the entireness of his own alle- 
giance by devastating Virginia, had something to do 
with the preference ; for who can doubt that the Amer- 
ican officers were burning to bring to justice the villain 
who had dishonored them all ? Washington sent La- 
fayette, who had returned from France after doing all 



1781 d NOBLE USE OF AFFLUENCE. 385 

lie could for us there, with twelve hundred men to 
co-operate with the French fleet against Arnold ; but 
not finding the fleet, the "Marquis was obliged to seek 
another object, which he found in acting in concert 
with General Greene, further south. 

It is almost enough to make us in love with riches, 
to see how nobly they may be used by noble spirits. 
Lafayette, finding the troops under his command suf- 
fering as usual for lack of suitable clothing, and the 
States more careless than ever of the wants of the 
army, since the French allies had come to take a share 
of the work, pledged his own credit for a proper sup- 
ply, and had the satisfaction of seeing his men comfort- 
able, and of receiving from Washington the warmest 
commendation. 

An instance connected with Lafayette's operations 
in the south is related by Mr. Sparks, which is too 
beautiful to be omitted.* 

* After Cornwallis had arrived at York, and commenced his fortifica- 
tions, Lafayette asked of Colonel Barber if he knew of a trusty, capable 
soldier, whom he could send as a spy into Cornwallis's camp. He an- 
swered that there was one in the New Jersey line by the name of Mor- 
gan, who was in all respects suited to such an enterprise. The general 
sent for him, and told him that he had a very difficult task to propose to 
him, which was, that he should pretend to desert, go over to the Britisn 
camp and enlist as a soldier. Morgan answered that he was ready to do 
any thing in the service of his country, and oblige his general, but that 
his feelings revolted at such a proposal. 

He must assume the character of a spy, and, if detected, he would not 
only lose his life, but bring a lasting disgrace upon his name. 

He desired the reputation of a good soldier, and a zealous, true lover 
of his country, hut he could not endure the thoughts of being a spy. Af- 
ter some conversation, however, he told the general that he would go, on 

17 



386 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1781. 

Arnold still continued his ravages in Virginia, 
burning peaceful towns and doing whatever is meanest 
and most cruel in war, for in " civilized " war, armies 
only fight against armies, not against unarmed inhabi- 
tants. Meanwhile a British man-of-war sailed up the 
broad and beautiful Potomac, the haunt of salmon and 
wild fowl, hitherto unroused b y any sound more warlike 
than the pop of the sportsman's gun, and, as had been pre- 
dicted some time before, made straight for the secluded, 
rural home of the commander-in-chief, and demanded 
supplies as the price of sparing the house and property. 
Mr. Lund Washington, forgetting in the hurry and agi- 
tation of the moment the position and sentiments 
of the man he served, timidly conceded the provisions 
and forage they required, and congratulated himself, 

one condition, which was, that, in case any disaster should happen to him, 
the general should make the true state of the case known, and have the 
particulars published in the New Jersey gazettes, that no reproach might 
come upon his family and friends for his supposed misconduct. 

To this the general assented. Morgan joined the British camp and en- 
listed. 

Lafayette left every thing to his discretion, but told him he wished in- 
telligence of important movements, and moreover desired the impression 
particularly to be given, that he had boats enough to transport all his 
army across James River. Morgan had been a little time in camp, when 
Lord Comwallis sent for hini and asked him many questions. Tarleton 
was with him at the time, and inquired of Morgan among other things 
how many boats General Lafayette had on the river. He said he did not 
know the exact number, but he had been told there were enough to carry 
over all the army at a moment's warning. " There," exclaimed Comwal- 
lis to Tarleton, " I told you this would not do," from which it appeared 
that they had a project in view. 

The French fleet in the meantime arrived. General Lafayette had been 
out to reconnoitre, and when he returned he found six men in the British 



1781.] MISTAKE AT MOUNT VERNON. 387 

no doubt, on seeing the enemy depart, without leaving 
behind him, as he so often did, a smoking ruin. 

But now came the time of reckoning. The agent 
must sit down and write an account of the transaction 
to the commander-in-chief; must tell him, not only that 
the enemy had threatened an attack, for that would 
have been nothing wonderful ; not that they had with- 
drawn without proceeding to extremities, which might 
have excited some surprise ; but that he, Lund Wash- 
ington, — namesake if not kinsman of the champion of 
Freedom and foe of British assumption, — had bought 
off the invader by contributions of free-born pigs and 
chickens, and beeves fattened on the soil of Liberty ! 

It was a hard task, and he made as good a story of 
it as he could, but hear the reply : — 

" I am very sorry to hear of your loss ; I am a little 
sorry to hear of my own ; but that which gives me 

uniform and one green-coated Hessian at his quarters ; and among them 
was Morgan. 

" Well, Morgan'" asked the general, with surprise, " whom have you 
got here ? " " Five British soldiers who have deserted with me, and a Hes- 
sian whom we captured at the outpost," was the reply. He went on to 
say, that as the French fleet had arrived, and he presumed his services 
could no longer be of any use to his general in the British camp, he had 
returned and these deserters and this prisoner were the fruits of his expe- 
dition. 

The general sent for Morgan the next day, and told him that his con- 
duct had been in the highest degree meritorious, and that he proposed to 
make him a sergeant. Morgan listened to the proposal, and said he was 
highly gratified to have pleased his commander, but declined the promo- 
tion. He added that he believed himself a good soldier, but that he was 
by no means certain he should make a good sergeant; that he joined the 
army from a principle of duty and patriotism, because he believed his 



388 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1781. 

most concern is, that you should go on board the ene- 
my's vessels, and furnish them with refreshments. It 
would have been a less painful circumstance to me to 
have heard, that, in consequence of your non-compli- 
ance with their request, they had burnt my house and 
laid the plantation in ruins. 

" You ought to have considered yourself as my 
representative, and should have reflected on the bad 
example of communicating with the enemy, and ma- 
king a voluntary offer of refreshments to them with a 
view to prevent a conflagration. It was not in your 
power, I acknowledge, to prevent them from sending a 
flag on shore, and you did right to meet it ; but you 
should, in the same instant that the business of it was 
unfolded, have declared explicitly, that it was improper 
for you to yield to the request ; after which, if they had 
proceeded to help themselves by force, you could but 
have submitted ; and being unprovided with defence, 

country needed his services, and the same motives induced him to prefer a 
station where he was satisfied he should he the most useful. The general 
then offered him money, hut this he refused also, saying his circumstances 
were such at home, that he did not need money. 

" What then can I do for you? " inquired the general. " I have one 
favor to ask," replied Morgan ; " during my ahsence some person has ta- 
ken my gun. I set a great value upon it, and, if it can be restored, it 
will give me particular pleasure." 

The gun was described, and the general issued an order requiring it to 
he returned. This was all the reward that Morgan could ever be prevailed 
on to accept. 

The above anecdote was related to me by General Lafayette himself 
nearly fifty years after the event, with much warmth of feeling and admi- 
ration of the soldier's magnanimity. 



1781.] HOPES OF REGAINING NEW YORK. 389 

this was to be preferred to a feeble opposition, which 
only serves as a pretext to burn and destroy." 

Speaking of the circumstances to Lafayette, who 
had been shocked at its inconsistency, and written him 
a letter on the subject, "Washington suggests some ex- 
cuses for his agent, who was also his friend : • 

" A false idea, arising from the consideration of his 
being my steward, and in that character more the 
trustee and guardian of my property than the repre- 
sentative of my honor, has misled his judgment and 
plunged him into error, upon the appearance of deser- 
tion among my negroes, and danger to my buildings ; 
for sure I am, that no man is more firmly opposed to 
the enemy than he is. From a thorough conviction of 
this, and of his integrity, I intrusted every species of 
my property to his care, without reservation or fear of 
his abusing it, The last paragraph of my letter to him 
was occasioned by an expression of his fear, that all the 
estates convenient to the river would be stripped of 
their negroes and movable property." 

In July, 1781, there were grand preparations for a 
descent upon New York, by the combined armies of 
France and the United States, the former commanded 
by Count Eochambeau and the Duke de Lauzun, the 
latter by General Washington and General Lincoln. 
Both armies took position about Kingsbridge and Har- 
lem, but in consequence of various unfavorable circum- 
stances, fell back as far as Dobbs' Ferry, where they 
lay six weeks, awaiting a favorable opportunity. But 



390 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [ I7S1 

their troops were too few and ill-conditioned, and the 
French fleet could not join them, being far inferior in 
force to the British, the strength of which gave the 
enemy an incalculable advantage in all land operations 
at this period ; so the plan proved abortive. Count de 
Grasse, with a large fleet and more than three thousand 
men, was in the West Indies, and Washington earnest- 
ly desired that he should sail for Sandy Hook, and at- 
tack the British by sea, which would have enabled the 
land forces to accomplish their plan of recovering New 
York. 

But before the despatch to this effect had time to 
reach the French admiral, a letter was received from 
him, announcing that he was about to sail, with his en- 
tire force, for the Chesapeake. This changed the whole 
plan. The armies, French and American, set out at 
once for Virginia, leaving only men enough behind to 
secure the passes of the Hudson. Lord Cornwallis was 
still in Virginia, and Lafayette counteracting him as 
far as possible. The American troops were not very 
willing to march so far southward, and some of them 
would have stopped at Philadelphia, if Robert Morris, 
that patriotic financier, who, like the genii of Arabian 
story, always produced gold when it was needed, found 
for them a month's pay in hard money, when hard 
money was not to be had except by borrowing it on 
his own personal credit. Washington and Rocham- 
beau, in advance of the army, stopped at Mount Ver- 
non, but only for a few hours. They then pushed for- 



1781 -] ONCE MORE AT HOME. 391 

ward to join Lafayette, whom they found near Wil- 
liamsburg, "Virginia, on the 14th of September. 

Washington looking upon his beloved home again 
after more than six years absence — six years of toil 
and anxiety, of glory and disappointment — what an 
hour of emotion, of reminiscence, of longing ! Here is 
the bounteous old mansion with its flagged piazza, 
worn with his pacing footsteps ; its hospitable rooms, 
its quiet library, its sweeping colonnades, its abundant 
garden. Here, too, are the lawns and shrubberies cared 
for and beautified so fondly by their master's hands. 
On the roof of the house is a cupola, from which to en- 
joy the more extended prospect offered by the broad 
Potomac and both its shores of gently swelling hills, 
crowned with woods as far as the eye can see, and 
fading away in the distance as the river widens into an 
arm of the great ocean. Here all, all these, and a thou- 
sand charms more, every one endeared by life-long 
habit, and the hope of quiet closing days to be passed 
among them. 

How pleasant to have detained the French com- 
mander a few days, while in the midst of softly waving 
woods and waters and the comforts of domestic life, the 
din of war might be forgotten ! 

And the wife ! Shall we blame her if she thought 
it hard that her husband must mount and away before 
she had time to question him a little even of his own 
welfare and his plans and hopes for the future ? Her 
lot was hard ; six summers in succession she had been 



392 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1781. 

separated from him, all the while knowing that he was 
exposed to the perils of deadly strife, and that he would 
avoid none of them, for his own sake or even for hers. 
Here he had, unannounced, darted into his home, like 
the first sunbeam after a storm, only to disappear again 
under as black -a cloud as any of those that had brought 
the thunder. He had come but to tell her that he was 
on his way to seek a battle, an unequal though glorious 
contest, from which he might never return. 
But the cloud had a silver lining'. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Capitulation of Torktown — British troops lay down their arms — Generous senti- 
ments — Cautions of Washington — Moderation in victory — Joy and gratitude of 
the nation — Death of Mr. John Parke Custis. 

Lokd Coknwallis, whom Lafayette had been harassing 
on every side, found himself, only a few days after this 
flying visit of Washington to his home, out-generalled 
and penned up in Yorktown, and hotly besieged by the 
combined forces ; and on the 17th of October demand- 
ed a parley, and signified his determination to surren- 
der the fortifications of Yorktown and Gloucester, one 
on each side of York River. _ 

The terms sketched by Lord Cornwallis not meeting 
General Washington's views, the general in his turn 
proposed articles of capitulation, which were acceded 
to by the British general. 

The articles of capitulation were signed on the 19th 
of October, and in the afternoon of that day the garri- 
sons marched out and surrendered their arms. 

The whole number of prisoners, exclusive of sea- 
men, was somewhat over seven thousand men ; and the 



394 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1781. 

British loss during the siege was between five and six 
hundred. The combined army employed in the siege 
consisted of about seven thousand American regular 
troops, upwards of five thousand French, and four 
thousand militia. The loss in killed and wounded was 
about three hundred. 

The land forces surrendered to General Washington 
and became prisoners to Congress ; but the seamen, 
ships and naval equipments, were assigned to the 
French admiral. 

General Washington thus announces the capture to 
the President of Congress : 

" Head-quakters, near York, 19^ Oct. 1781. 

" Sir, — I have the honor to inform Congress, that a 
reduction of the British army, under the command of 
Lord Cornwallis, is most happily effected. The unre- 
mitted ardor which actuated every officer and soldier 
in the combined army on this occasion, has principally 
led to this important event, at an earlier period than 
my most sanguine hopes had induced me to expect. 

" The singular spirit of emulation, which animated 
the whole army from the first commencement of our 
operations, has filled my mind with the highest pleasure 
and satisfaction, and had given me the happiest presages 
of success." 

He also expresses, very warmly, his obligations to 
the French officers and his sense of the merits of his 
own men. 



1781 -1 " COENWALLIS IS TAKEN ! " 395 

Here was sunshine indeed. A success so great, so 
rapid and so unexpected cheered the land from one ex- 
tremity to the other. The siege and surrender of York- 
town, shook the country like the loudest claj:> of thunder, 
herald of the storm's departure. All felt that brighter 
skies were preparing, and the universal joy did not wait 
the sanction of a deliberate treaty of peace. The great 
game of chess which had been so warily played with 
living men for pawns, was now nearly decided, if not 
closed by a final checkmate. Congress and the people 
felt as if the stunning blow had been given — as if the 
long agony was over. There was a touch of wildness 
in the national joy, showing how deep had been the 
previous despondency. Watchmen woke the citizens 
of Philadelphia at one o'clock in the morning, with the 
cry — " Cornwallis is taken ! " Sober, puritan America 
was startled from her habitual coolness. The chief 
alone, on whom had fallen the heaviest stress of the 
long contest, was calm and serious. He felt that a 
great deal was yet to be done. 

In the orders for the day is the following direction : 

" Divine service is to be performed to-morrow in the 
several brigades and divisions. 

" The commander-in-chief earnestly recommends, 
that the troops not on duty should universally attend, 
with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of 
heart, which the recognition of such reiterated and as- 
tonishing interpositions of Providence demands of us." 

The thanks of Congress were presented to each of 



396 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1781. 

the commanders and to all the other officers and sol- 
diers. Counts de Grasse and de Rochambeau received 
each two pieces of the English cannon, and General 
Washington two stands of colors taken at Yorktown. 

Colonel Tilghman, who bore the victorious news to 
Congress, was complimented with a fine horse and an 
elegant sword ; and a marble column was ordered to be 
erected at Yorktown in commemoration of the sur- 
render. Washington spared no thanks to his excellent 
friends the French, and even went on board the ad- 
miral's ship to pay his compliments, to present as a 
personal gift from himself a pair of very fine horses, 
and to concert measures for following up the victory 
effectually. In the latter object he was not successful, 
as the Count de Grasse had engagements which called 
him elsewhere. 

Scarcely had the capitulation been signed, when 
Washington left Yorktown, summoned by express to 
the dying bed of his step-son, Mr. Custis, a young man 
of twenty-eight, the " Master Jackey " of Mount Yernon's 
early days. This gentleman, who had married Miss 
Nelly Calvert, had been seized with a fever, and lay at 
a friend's house at Eltham, where his afflicted wife and 
mother were watching over him, hourly expecting his 
dissolution when Washington arrived. This was one 
of those occasions upon which Washington is said to 
have exhibited an amount of affectonate feeling which 
some have considered him incapable of. He looked on 
the young man, Mrs. Washington's only son, called thus 



1781 GRIEF AFTER JOY. 397 

early to leave a beloved wife and four infant children, 
and lie wept like a woman, promising with all the em- 
phasis of his strong nature to be henceforth a father to 
the little ones, which he truly was, ever after. 

Perhaps Providence sent this home-grief to temper 
the joy of so unexpected a termination of the long, 
weary struggle. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

The sufferings of the army tempt some men to treasonous thoughts — The indigna- 
tion of Washington and his rebuke — Pacification of the troops— News of PEACE 
— Persons still living who remember those times — Washington travels in Western 
New York— The British evacuate New York — Washington takes leavo of his 
companions in arms — Eeturns his commission to Congress. 

In May, 1782, a very well written paper was handed 
to Washington, which, after enlarging warmly on the 
wrongs of the army, and offering some very severe 
criticisms on the measures of Congress, went on to 
pass judgment on the various forms of government, 
coming at last to the conclusion that a republic is of all 
others the least reliable, and that it was a mistake to 
think that the American States could ever prosper un- 
der that form. English constitutional monarchy was 
decided to be the most promising, and thus far the most 
successful, experiment in government, and the one most 
likely to be adopted by America upon due delibera- 
tion. The letter goes on to designate "Washington as 
the suitable head for such a government, and to pro- 
pose for him the title of King. 

The paper was the production of Colonel Nicola, an 



1782.] TEMPTATION SCORNED. 399 

officer of respectability, on terms of intimacy with the 
commander-in-chief, with whom he had often conferred 
on the affairs of the army. He is supposed to have 
been merely the organ of others on this occasion. A 
copy of Washington's reply is extant in his own hand- 
writing, with the certificate of two secretaries on the 
same paper : — 

" The foregoing is an exact copy of a letter, which 
we sealed and sent off to Colonel Nicola, at the request 
of the writer of it. 

" D. Humphreys, A. D. C, 
" Jonathan Trumbull, Jun., 

" Secretary." 

" To Colonel Lewis Nicola. 

"Newbukg, 22d May, 1782. 

« Sir,— With a mixture of great surprise and aston- 
ishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you 
have submitted to my perusal. 

" Be assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the 
war has given me more painful sensations, than your 
information of there being such ideas existing in the 
army, as you have expressed, and I must view with 
abhorrence and reprehend with severity. For the 
present the communication of them will rest in my 
own bosom, unless some further agitation of the matter 
shall make a disclosure necessary. 



400 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1782. 

" I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my 
conduct could have given encouragement to an ad- 
dress, which to me seems big with the greatest mis- 
chiefs that can befall my country. 

" If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, 
you could not have found a person to whom your 
schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, in 
justice to my own feelings, I must add, that no man 
possesses a more sincere wish to see ample justice done 
to the army than I do ; and, as far as my powers and 
influence, in a constitutional way, extend, they shall 
be employed to the utmost of my abilities to effect it, 
should there be any occasion. 

" Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard 
for your country, concern for yourself or posterity, or 
respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your 
mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any 
one else, a sentiment of the like nature. 

" I am, sir, your most obedient servant." 

But this transaction was never alluded to during 
the period when the murmurs of the army and the 
awful dread of worse evils to come, wrung the heart 
of Washington, and obliged him to become a second 
time, under God, the saviour of his country. The 
quietness with which he crushed in embryo a mighty 
insurrection can never be over-praised. 

Less brilliant than some of his other exploits, it 
was perhaps, in the qualities it evinced and in the im- 



1783.] ONCE MORE HE SAVES HIS COUNTRY. 401 

portance of its consequences, the greatest of all. A 
body of men with arms in their hands, with real 
wrongs to stimulate their passions, wrought up to the 
last point of self-control by artful and specious ad- 
dresses, made but too ready material for mad doings. 
There was an anonymous call for a meeting of officers. 
This coming to the ears of the commander-in-chief, he 
at once called another meeting, and for an earlier day. 
Before that day arrived, he had sent for many of the 
officers separately, to his private room, and it was ob- 
served that some of them left him with the traces of 
tears upon their cheeks. 

The meeting called by General Washington took 
place as appointed, General Gates in the chair. 

The commander-in-chief, much agitated, arose, with 
a paper in his hand containing the address he had pre- 
pared. As he looked around the assembly, and his eye 
fell upon one and another of his old companions in arms, 
men who with him had borne the burden and heat of 
the day, memory was too much for him ; he faltered 
and could not see clearly to read his notes. As soon 
as he recovered himself he said in his quiet way, tak- 
ing at the same time his glasses from his pocket, " I 
have grown gray in your service, and now I am grow- 
ing blind, but I never doubted the justice of my coun- 
try or its gratitude." 

A thrill ran through the assembly. What could 
better have prepared every heart to listen to him with 
reverential affection ? 



402 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

His address, read with deep feeling, was noble, 
fatherly, wise. Our limits forbid us to quote from it, 
but every American should study it if he would know 
how to love and honor Washington. 

He retired as soon as he had finished, and resolu- 
tions were passed by the meeting expressive of the 
most ardent affection for him and determination to 
abide by his wishes. 

To the President of Congress Washington wrote : 

" The result of the proceedings of the grand con- 
vention of officers, which I have the honor of enclosing 
to your Excellency for the inspection of Congress, will, 
I flatter myself, be considered as the last glorious proof 
of patriotism which could have been given by men who 
aspired to the distinction of a patriot army ; and will 
not only confirm their claim to the justice, but will in- 
crease their title to the gratitude, of their country." 

Not one word of his own share in the matter. 

News of peace came very soon after the noble paci- 
fication at Newburg. Joyful news ! every heart leapt 
at thought of the blessed change. The capitulation at 
Yorktown had been virtually the close of hostilities, but 
the obstinate temper of George III. seemed likely to 
prolong the contest indefinitely. Now all was settled 
and secure. The treaty of peace had been signed at 
Paris, and on the 19th of April, 1783, precisely eight 
years from the day when the first blood was shed at 
Lexington, the proclamation of peace was read at the 
head of every regiment and corps of the army, after 



1783 PEACE IN EARNEST. 403 

which the chaplains of the several brigades, by di- 
rection of the commander-in-chief, offered public thanks 
to Almighty God for all his mercies, " particularly for 
his overruling the wrath of man to his own glory, and 
causing the rage of war to cease among nations." 

The joy with which the news of peace was hailed is 
evident from a letter, now before me, from Washington 
to Governor Clinton, announcing the event. 

" Head-quakteks, March 27th, 1783. 

" Dear Sie, — I take the first moment of forwarding 
to your Excellency the dispatches from the Secretary 
of Foreign Affairs, which accompany this. They con- 
tain, I presume, all the intelligence respecting peace, 
on which great and glorious event permit me to con- 
gratulate you with the greatest sincerity. 

" With the most perfect respect, I have the honor 
" to be, dear sir, your Excellency's most 
" humble servant, 
" George Washington. 
" His Excellency Gov. Clinton." 

This letter, venerably yellow, is addressed — 

On Public Service. 
To His Excellency Governor George Clinton. 
PEACE. 

The word peace dashed on in large characters by 



404 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

Washington himself, in a way that lets us into the feel- 
ings of the moment. 

The long struggle was now over. Peace had 
dawned over the weary land where civil discord and 
bloody retribution had so long held sway. No more 
to be stigmatized as rebels, the people of the United 
States had become free and independent citizens, 
amenable only to God and to themselves, and in a 
position of equality with the great nations of the earth. 
The change cannot be conceived by us who have known 
our country only in its days of power and prosperity ; 
but there still remain among us those whose memories 
are faithful to the aspect of the darkest days. So rapid 
has been our transition from infant weakness and un- 
certainty of life, to full-grown potency and self-reliance, 
that not a few of the men and . women who remember 
all the horrors of war — the starvation, the nakedness, 
the arraying of brother against brother, the midnight 
cannon, the names of burning villages, the slaughter of 
women and children, are still living at this moment, 
able to describe what they saw and felt, while they look 
around upon nothing that can remind them of those 
disastrous times, except by contrast. What can be 
more interesting than a contemporary of Washington ? 
The very sight of such a relic of those heavy days, 
still able to recount what he saw and heard, warms 
one's patriotism, and calls up the remembrance, too 
often dormant, of what our fathers suffered for us. All 
we enjoy, all we boast of, was won by immense sacri- 



1783 d LIVING MONUMENTS. 405 

fices, cold night-watches, marches tracked with blood, 
ghastly wounds, deaths in solitude and anguish, un- 
pitied and unknown. We may look upon the graves 
of our deliverers without full sense of what we owe 
them ; but we cannot coldly pass by the living witness, 
the monumental man, bearing, like the pillar of the 
Nile, the inscriptions of the past for the instruction and 
use of the future. More than one lady of the " Repub- 
lican Court " is still enjoying, in the evening of life, re- 
collections of the keen interest, the exciting novelties, 
the simple splendors of that glorious time, serving as 
stars to light and cheer a path that might otherwise be 
sad. Things now intensely interesting to us they 
sometimes find it difficult to recall, because at the time 
of their occurrence great men and great events were so 
common as to pass unnoticed. " "When I saw General 
"Washington every clay," says one of these whom it is 
sometimes my privilege to converse with, " when I sat 
by his side or walked with him in the street ; when he 
dropt in unexpectedly to take tea with my mother, or 
sat laughing at Nelly Custis's wild gayety ; I never 
thought of the time when the least personal reminiscence 
of him would be precious." 

Still, enough is remembered to give us an intimate 
idea of the manners of those days, and of the appear- 
ance of the men whose reputation is now among our 
most precious national possessions. 

Washington never appears greater than at the mo- 
ment of peace, when most war-leaders are glad to sink 



406 MKMOIR8 OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

into repose, leaving to others the care of wliat they have 
secured. The feeling of fatherhood was never stronger 
in him than now, and the dignity with which he takes 
upon himself the care of the country, and gives it his 
parting advice, is unique in the history of the world. 
His circular letter to the Governors of the different 
States, on the disbanding of the army, is one of his best 
papers. 

Affairs in the army continuing in an unsettled and 
uneasy state, General Washington, wearied almost to 
death with cares and labors, planned for himself an ex- 
cursion that would at once recruit body and mind, and 
afford him an opportunity of observation in a direction 
peculiarly congenial to his habits and feelings. " Find- 
ing myself in disagreeable circumstances here," he 
says to the President of Congress, " and likely to be, 
so long as Congress are pleased to continue me in this 
awkward situation, anxiouly expecting the definitive 
treaty; without command, and with little else to do 
than to be teased with troublesome applications and 
fruitless demands, which I have neither the means nor 
the power of satisfying; in this distressing tedium I 
have resolved to wear away a little time in performing 
a tour to the northward, as far as Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point, and perhaps as far up the Mohawk River 
as Fort Schuyler." 

It is noticeable that the companion of Washington's 
northern trip was Governor George Clinton, father of 
Governor De Witt Clinton, to whom is ascribed the 






,783 INYITKI) 1JY QONGBESS. 407 

honor of having originated the idea of the Erie Canal. 
Without wishing in the least to detract from the merit 
of the latter, we cannot but suppose the suggestion to 
have proceeded from Washington, whose mind was 
ever on the alert for the discovery of the natural re- 
sources of every part of the country. 

Congress, then sitting at Princeton, desired that 
Washington would come to them, that they might con- 
sult him " on the arrangements for peace and other 
public concerns." 

lie was rather disinclined to make the removal, ur- 
ging several reasons why it would be inconvenient, and 
saying he had already given his views in writing. Ilis 
modesty shrank from the idea of public thanks, which 
he knew awaited him when he should appear before 
Congress. It was not until after the resolve of that 
body had been transmitted to him (a royal invitation 
being equivalent to a command), that he consented to 
present himself. Before he could set out, however, Mrs. 

Washington was taken ill, and he was detained several 
days, for which he writes to apologize to Congress, 
mentioning his wile's fever, and her weak and low state 
as his reason. 

We find from the last " Order," that he set tut on 
the 18th of August. " The commander-in-chief, having 
been requested by Congress to give his attention at 
Princeton, proposes to set out for that place to-morrow ; 
but he expects to have the pleasure of seeing the army 
again before he retires to private life. During Ins ab- 



408 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

sence, Major-general Knox will retain the command 
of the troops, and all reports are to be made to him 
accordingly." 

A house had been prepared for him at Rocky Hill, 
near Princeton, where he resided for some time, hold- 
ing conferences with committees and members, and 
giving counsel on public affairs, and where he wrote 
that admirable farewell to his army, perhaps as full of 
his own peculiar spirit as any of his public papers. 
His thanks to officers and soldiers for their devotion 
during the war have no perfunctory coldness in them, 
but speak the full heart of a brave and noble captain, 
reviewing a most trying period, and recalling with 
warm gratitude the co-operation of those on whom he 
relied. Then, for their future, his cautions and persua- 
sions, the motives he urges, and the virtues he recom- 
mends, all form a curious contrast with those of Napo- 
leon's addresses to his troops. " Let it be known and 
remembered," he says, " that the reputation of the 
federal armies is established beyond the reach of male- 
volence; and let a consciousness of their achievements 
and fame still incite the men who composed them to 
honorable actions ; under the persuasion that the pri- 
vate virtues of economy, prudence, and industry, will 
not be less amiable in civil life, than the more splendid 
qualities of valor, perseverance and enterprise were in 
the field." Thus consistent to the last he honored all 
the virtues ; showing that while those of the field were 
not misplaced in the farm, those of the farm might well 



1783 EXCHANGE OF MASTERS. 409 

be counted among the best friends of the field — his own 
life of planter and soldier forming a glorious com- 
mentary on his doctrines. 

The British having at length appointed a time for 
evacuating the city of New York, Governor Clinton 
issued a proclamation, enjoining the inhabitants to 
yield due obedience to the laws of the State, and to be 
vigilant in preserving law and order. The troops hav- 
ing come down from West Point to Harlem, waited for 
the British to quit the posts in the upper part of the 
city, and as fast as those were relinquished, marched in 
and took possession quietly, and without any disturb- 
ance occurring. This being accomplished, General 
"Washington and Governor Clinton, with their suites, 
multitudes of citizens, and a splendid military escort, 
made a formal entry in procession by the Bloomingdale 
road, reaching the lower part of the city while the last 
of the British were still embarking in their boats to 
cross over to Jersey. The governor gave a great pub- 
lic dinner on that day, the commander-in-chief and all 
the most distinguished men gracing the occasion by 
their presence. A dinner to the Chevalier de la Lu- 
zerne followed this in a few days ; a very elegant en- 
tertainment of a similar character, on a still more ex- 
tensive scale, above one hundred gentlemen being 
present. Balls and festivities were the order of the 
day, and even those whose losses had been most severe, 
could not help taking some share in the rejoicings over 
freedom. Many a face wore a smile, while the heart 
18 



410 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

beneath it was wrapped in mourning, the feeling of 
patriotism triumphing, for the moment, over all private 
griefs. There were others, perhaps, who could have 
made wry faces at the grand procession of the success- 
ful " rebels," for New York had been a nest of tory- 
ism ; but these malcontents, if any such there were, 
were wise enough to dress their looks to the pattern of 
the hour, and shout and illuminate with the rest. The 
public feeling would ill have endured any dissentient 
airs at that crowning moment, when blood and tears 
were alike forgotten in the glorious anticipations of the 
future. 

Washington's progress southward had been one 
continued scene of honors and rejoicings. The people 
seem to have had no fear of turning the head of their 
idol, but gave vent to every expression that joy, grati- 
tude, and hope could suggest. Processions, triumphal 
arches, cannon, music, flowers, songs, addresses, greeted 
him every where. But his soul was firm, his manner 
serious, his heart thankful, but not elated. Arrived at 
Annapolis, he sent to inquire the pleasure of Congress 
as to the mode in which he was to resign his commis- 
sion, whether personally or by letter. 

The former mode being preferred, a committee of 
reception was appointed, and with grave and dignified 
forms, General Washington was introduced into the 
Congressional Chamber. The House being " seated 
and covered," so runs the order for the ceremonial, the 
approach of the commander-in-chief was announced by 



1783.J WASHINGTON RESIGNS HIS COMMISSION. 411 

a messenger, and the secretary proceeded to introduce 
him, with the gentlemen of his staff, and to provide the 
general with a chair, the aids remaining standing. 

After some pause, during which spectators were 
admitted and placed, the President of Congress ad- 
dressed the general : 

" Sir, — The United States in Congress assembled, 
are prepared to receive your communication," upon 
which "Washington arose, bowing to Congress, who re- 
turned the salutation by uncovering, and read from 
notes a very brief address : — 

Then advancing towards the President he delivered 
up his commission, with a copy of the address, and re- 
turned to his seat. 

When the President commenced his reply, General 
Washington arose, and remained standing until its con- 
clusion, when the secretary presented him with a copy 
of the answer. The general bowing again, took his 
leave, Congress acknowledging the reverence as before. 

The next morning after this affecting ceremony, 
Washington, the new Cincinnatus, set out for Mount 
Yernon, there to resume the plough and the pruning 
knife, far dearer to him than even the sword " crowned 
with victorious wreaths." We fancy him on the 
evening of his arrival, walking once more in that be- 
loved portico, where, says Mr. Custis, he would often 
pace up and clown for an hour before he retired, look- 
ing out on a still, glittering, snowy landscape, shadowed 
here and there with dark evergreens, through whose 



412 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783. 

branches the sighing wind made wintry music, while 
thoughts of the past eight weary, trying, glorious years 
trooped through his mind, and the image of friend after 
friend joined the sweet or sad procession, as life or 
death had been his lot. Home ! Home ! This was, 
after all, the prominent idea ; Home once more ! We 
doubt if even public affairs, and joy and triumph, did 
not, on that first evening, fade before that thought. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Personal habits of Washington at home— Anecdote from Watson— Washington an 
early riser — Care of his farm — Beading aloud in the evening — Itegular at church — 
Abstemious in eating and drinking — His love and care of Mount Vernon, and the 
description he gave of the estate— Attending to other people's affairs— Number of 
letters he wrote while at home. 

Life at Mount Yemon was always essentially the same ; 
the position and circumstances of the place, and the 
habits of the country giving it character, as well when 
its owner was at the summit of fame as when he first set 
up housekeeping there, a gay young Virginian bache- 
lor in 1757, exercising his taste in furniture and ar- 
rangements, and writing to his London correspondent 
— " You will perhaps think me a crazy fellow, to be or- 
dering and counter-ordering, almost in a breath." 

We have seen the careful attention given to his 
own affairs in early times ; the minuteness with which 
he describes household articles that he wished to ob- 
tain, and calculated materials and provisions for the 
use of the plantation. This continued to be a trait of 
his through life, and should be remembered by all who 
admire him, as a lesson of the foolishness of fancying 



414 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

one's self above small affairs. When we find ourselves 
capable only of large ones, it is to be ascribed to the 
limitation of our powers, not to their grandeur. Pub- 
lic service and the highest offices of friendship and af- 
fection were the business of Washington's life ; no man 
ever was more completely and efficiently the servant 
of the public. Yet in all the minor matters of life 

His heart 
The lowliest duties on herself did lay. 

Planting trees and shrubs at Mount Vernon was 
one of his favorite employments, and he did it often 
with his own hands. He went daily through his 
woods, selecting and marking young trees for trans- 
planting to the walks about his house, and when the 
time suited would go and superintend the whole ope- 
ration. In one of the diaries, we find him employed 
in the pleasant labor when a load of company arrives, 
and he makes a rather doleful entry that he was obliged 
to cover up the young trees in the earth, to keep them 
from drying, so as to be useless. Home was always a 
prominent object in his mind. To adorn his home ; to 
fill it with whatever conduces to hospitality and the 
comfort and amusement of guests ; to have pleasant 
things going on in it ; to surround it with the appliances 
which wealth has at its command ; to make it the centre 
of bounty to a large number of less fortunate people — 
to these things Washington's first instincts pointed, and 
from an early age — from his first ownership, indeed — 



1783-9.] THE WASHINGTON FAMILY. 415 

he was always taking efficient measures towards the 
realization of his ideal ; always, we mean, when higher 
duties did not prevent. To have suffered eight years 
of exile from this home, was no small sacrifice for a 
man so domestic and social in his tastes. 

When Mount Vernon came to Washington as an 
inheritance from his brother, the house was compara- 
tively inconsiderable and the grounds in a rough state. 
It was even then the scene of a great deal of hearty 
hospitality, and took its share in the hunting-dinners of 
the country, and whatsoever else could mark it as the 
residence of one of the principal families. The Wash- 
ingtons killed their own mutton and drew their own 
seine, long before the time of which we are speaking. 
They lived independently and within themselves, with 
grain-fields and barnyards, hives and dove-cotes, cows 
and horses, game and fish, all at hand, and no grass 
growing before the door, in the Irish sense at least, for 
the way thither was well trodden.* 

General Washington kept up the habit of the fam- 

* An interesting sketch of Washington's domestic manners is found in 
Watson's Memoirs: — 

"I had feasted my imagination for several days in the near prospect of 
a visit to Mount Vernon, the seat of Washington. No pilgrim ever ap- 
proached Mecca with deeper enthusiasm. I arrived there in the afternoon 
of January 23d, '85. I was the hearer of a letter from General Green, 
with another from Col. Fitzgerald, one of the former aids of Washington, 
and also the hooks from Granville Sharp. Although assured that these 
credentials would secure me a respectful reception, I trembled with awe 
as I came into the presence of this great man. I found him at table with 
Mrs. Washington and his private family, and was received in the native 
dignity and with that urbanity so peculiarly combined in the character of 



416 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

ily. He was related, either by blood or marriage, to 
half the county, and his house was thronged, in the 
earlier time, with familiar guests, as it was afterwards 
with distinguished ones. 

There were from day to day and week to week per- 
fect avalanches of company, and we find by the diary 
that people made nothing of staying a week or two. 
The general would breakfast with his guests, and then 
telling them he hoped they would take good care of 
themselves — that there were horses for those who liked 
to ride, the library for the studious, etc., — he mounted 
his horse for his usual morning ride of ten or twelve 
miles round the estate, and was not seen again until a 
quarter before three, when he returned and dressed for 
dinner. 

Dinner at three, when, says Mr. Custis, " the gen- 
eral ate heartily, being no way particular, except as to 
fish, of which he was very fond." 

a soldier and an eminent private gentleman. He soon put me at ease by 
unbending in a free and affable conversation. 

" Altbougb I had frequently seen him in the progress of the Revolu- 
tion, and had corresponded with him from France in '81 and '82, this was 
the first occasion on which I had contemplated him in his private rela- 
tions. I observed a peculiarity in his smile, which seemed to illuminate 
his eye ; his whole countenance beamed with intelligence, while it com- 
manded confidence and respect. The gentleman who had accompanied 
me from Alexandria left in the evening, and I remained alone in the en- 
joyment of the society of Washington, for two of the richest days of my 
life. To have communed with such a man in the bosom of his family, I 
shall always regard as one of the highest privileges, and most cherished 
incidents of my life. I found him kind and benignant in the domestic cir- 
cle, revered and beloved by all around him, agreeably social without os- 
tentation ; delighting in anecdote and adventures, without assumption ; his 



1783-9.] SIMPLE AND HEALTHY DIET. 417 

Dessert he took but sparingly, but the Marquis de 
Chastellux, who visited him in camp, says that he 
would eat nuts after dinner for two hours, while con- 
versing. Mr. Irving says that sometimes he would 
dine on baked apples, or berries with cream or milk. 
He preserved, to the last, the plain and simple tastes 
he brought from his mother's frugal household, and be- 
longed decidedly to that class of sturdy people who 
eat to live, not to the other — those who live to eat. 

He liked to have company at dinner, for conversa- 
tion was his chief indoor amusement ; but he never, 
even in his youth, relished what is called conviviality. 
He drank home-brewed with his dinner, and after it, 
three or four glasses of good old wine, which he con- 
sidered, as did every gentleman in his days, as neces- 
sary as meat. After the cloth was removed he drank 

domestic arrangements harmouious and systematic. His servants seemed 
to watch his eye and to anticipate his every wish ; hence a look was equi- 
valent to a command. His servant Billy, the faithful companion of his 
military career, was always at his side. Smiling content animated every 
countenance in his presence. 

" The first evening I spent under the wing of his hospitality, we sat a 
full hour at tahle by ourselves, without the least interruption, after the 
family had retired. I was extremely oppressed by a severe cold and ex- 
cessive coughing, contracted by the exposure of a harsh winter journey. 
He pressed me to use some remedies, but I declined doing so. As usual 
after retiring, my coughing increased. When some time had elapsed, the 
door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my bed-curtains, to 
my utter astonishment, I beheld Washington himself, standing at my bed- 
side, with a bowl of hot tea in his hand. I was mortified and distressed 
beyond expression. This little incident, occurring in common fife with an 
ordinary man, would not have been noticed ; but as a trait of the benevo- 
lence and private virtue of Washington, deserves to be recorded." 
18* 



418 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

to those present, and gave his only toast, " All our 
friends." 

Mr. Custis mentions one of the general's neighbors, 
who had a single toast ; — it was, " God bless General 
"Washington ! " 

In the afternoon the general went to his library, 
when he was understood to be occupied with business 
papers or in reading. In the evening he joined the 
family circle, took his cup of tea with the rest, and 
when there was no company to prevent, read aloud the 
news of the day, or passages from any book which 
happened to engage him for the time, Mrs. Washing- 
ton, at her ceaseless knitting, sitting very quietly in a 
corner of the sofa. 

On Sundays he attended church in the morning, 
and in the evening read aloud some sermon or other 
religious book. lie read with care and distinctness, 
though with a voice which was somewhat broken by 
some pulmonary attacks in his youth. 

Frequently when sitting silent in the family, he 
would be wholly absorbed in thought and seem uncon- 
scious of all around him. At such times it was not 
unusual for him to raise his hand to his head and move 
his lips, as if debating or giving orders. His habit of 
attending to public business was not easily overcome, 
and his mind was one of ceaseless activity. 

Like many other great men, "Washington was a very 
early riser. He kept as good hours when he was Pres- 
ident, as he had kept at his mother's, at Pope's Creek. 



1783-9.] LOVE OF MOUNT VEENOJST. 419 

He generally made a very early visit to the stables, 
but the precious morning hours, while the head of the 
temperate man is at its clearest, were always devoted 
by him to important business. His toilet was soon 
finished, although he was exceedingly neat in his hab- 
its. His servant laid his things ready for him and 
dressed his hair, but the general always shaved himself, 
and took care to do it in the smallest possible time. 
This accomplished, he employed himself in the library 
till breakfast. His breakfast was very simple ; some 
little corn cakes, with butter and honey, and two or 
three cups of tea. The " Spartan frugality " with 
which he represents himself to have received the 
French officers when they visited him at West Point, 
was in accordance with his own private tastes and hab- 
its ; and the times of scarcity and distress for provi- 
sions, probably cost him very little personal sacrifice ; 
while the well known moderation of his table helped 
to keep up the courage and devotion of his soldiers, 
who felt that their beloved commander shared their 
privations, instead of revelling in luxury while they 
were starving. "We can hardly appreciate the advan- 
tage of simple and uncostly habits of living, but the 
history of Washington may help us to do so. 

Washington was so much attached to the place, 
took so much interest in beautifying it, and spent such 
unwearied energy in the cultivation of its fields, that I 
do not know how to describe the owner at home with- 
out saying something of the beloved homestead. 



420 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

It is a great farm, of diverse surface, lying high 
above the level of the Potomac, whose broad bosom 
reflects the outskirts of its abundant foliage. Wood- 
lands abound in it, and evergreens and wild vines make 
it shady and retired in aspect. The birds whose "sweet 
warblings " Washington spoke of in terms more poeti- 
cal than he was accustomed to use, still make vocal the 
" alleys green " in which it was his delight to wander ; 
alleys which the mildness of the climate allows to be 
always green, though not always equally so. A more 
purely rural spot cannot be found than the favored 
home of the greatest of men, the place in which he re- 
ceived visits from innumerable admirers, and where he 
delighted to entertain the few personal friends whom he 
loved to see always about him. Here is his own de- 
scription of it, in a letter to his agricultural friend, 
Arthur Young, dated Dec. 12th, '93 :— 

" No estate in the United States is more pleasantly 
situated, than this. It lies in a high, dry and healthy 
country, 300 miles, by water, from the sea, and on one 
of the finest rivers in the world. Its margin is washed 
by more than ten miles of tide water. It is situated in 
a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold, and 
is the same distance by land and water, with good 
roads and the best navigation, from the Federal City, 
Alexandria and Georgetown ; distant from the first 
twelve, from the second nine, and the last sixteen miles. 

"The river which encompasses the land the distance 
above mentioned, is well supplied with different kinds 



1783-9.] POSITION OF THE ESTATE. 421 

of fish at all seasons of the year ; and in the spring with 
the greatest profusion of shad, herring, bass, carp, 
tench, sturgeon, &c. Several valuable fisheries ap- 
pertain to the estate ; the whole shore, in short, is one 
entire fishery." 

Mount Vernon has not now in the least the air of a 
show place, hardly even of a gentleman's villa, though 
in Washington's time it doubtless wore more nearly 
that appearance. Certain it is he spent a great deal 
of time and thought in planting choice and exotic 
shrubs about his house, smoothing and decorating 
his grass-plots, and cutting vistas through his woods, 
that the beauties of the prospect, — especially those 
of the beloved river, — might be enjoyed from every 
window of the mansion, as well as from its cupola. 
His private memoranda abound with the particulars 
of his plans, and the anxiety with which he pursued 
them under various difficulties; especially those of 
slave-labor and overseer's management. 

The land had several distinct settlements or points 
of interest upon it, to each of which the general at all 
times gave its full measure of care and attention. 
These were " The Mill-Farm," " Muddy Hole," and 
" Dogue Run," not very sentimental names, truly, but 
such as he found there and such as were understood by 
the negroes. Every day the careful master made the 
tour of these farms, and recorded whatever was of in- 
terest respecting them. His visits were sometimes 
made with the earliest light, and he says himself that 



422 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

if he found any of the hands not yet at work, he gen- 
erally sent them a message of condolence on the ill 
health which he presumed to be the cause of late 
rising. He examined the work of the day before, in- 
quired into the condition of the horses and mules, and 
gave orders about the care of them. As to the farming 
implements, we should think from his journals that he 
knew the value and state of every plough and hoe on 
the place. It is plainly to be seen, in all these records, 
how much the miserable slackness of slave labor vexed 
his exact soul; and we cannot but conjecture that he 
must have been a terrible thorn in the sides of the 
dilatory, inefficient and irregular people he had to deal 
with. 

A few words more upon Mount Vernon itself. The 
house is ample in size, much increased by General 
"Washington after he inherited it, for Lawrence Wash- 
ington, being an unconspicuous and rather retiring pri- 
vate man, did not need or wish so large a dwelling as 
that which Washington's position required and his for- 
tune justhied. The mansion was originally an ordinary 
square house, such as may be found any where on 
Southern plantations ; but General Washington added 
largely to it, and especially altered its aj3pearance by 
carrying out from the wings double colonnades, which 
united the large house to several smaller ones back of 
it. These rows of pillars helped to form the whole into 
a vast semicircle, enclosing a beautiful lawn, and when 
viewed from the grove back of it, the building with its 



1783-9.] EXCELLENT LETTERS. 423 

appendages is imposing and elegant. On the north is 
a large room, called the library, in which Wash- 
ington spent a good deal of time ; always one retired 
hour in the morning, the family say ; and there can 
be no doubt, from the recollections preserved by 
many of them, that this was the scene of his private 
devotions. In the library is the chimney-piece of 
Italian marble, presented by Mr. Vaughan. 

The letters of this short period of retirement are 
very numerous, so much so that we cannot but wonder 
how one hand could accomplish them all ; but we find 
by an expression in one of them, that Washington had 
for the time no secretary. The imputation sometimes 
cast upon the vast body of his letters, that they were in 
fact the work of his secretaries, is thus entirely set aside 
by internal evidence ; for nothing can be more obvious 
that though different hands were of course employed, 
yet the same mind runs through the whole. Directness 
of expression, simplicity, prudent counsel, patience, 
moderation, justice, minute attention to accessory cir- 
cumstances, occasional bursts of warmth, and, with 
these, a disposition to metaphorical language, mark the 
correspondence throughout, and no one thinks of a dif- 
ference of style, or any other difference of substance 
than that which must necessarily result from a freedom 
from the affairs and responsibilities of office, after 
Washington's establishment at Mount Vernon. 

We need hardly say that crowds of company fol- 
lowed him to his home, for it may easily be imagined 



424 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1783-9. 

with what interest and curiosity he was regarded, not 
only by his own countrymen, hut by intelligent foreign- 
ers, many of whom were attracted to this country by 
the wonderful success of our struggle with Great Brit- 
ain. It was in view of this that the Executive Council 
of Pennsylvania conceived the generous idea of making 
an express provision for the expense that must arise 
from the reception of so much company in a lonely 
house, so far from places of public entertainment that 
no visitor could be allowed to depart unrefreshed, and 
few without an invitation for the night or for several 
days. 

The Council intimated their wishes to their dele- 
gates to Congress in very handsome terms, and the 
gentlemen to whom was committed the management 
of this delicate affair, wisely submitted it to the person 
most concerned, before acting upon it in Congress. 
Washington, true to his constant resolution of never re- 
ceiving, in any shape, pecuniary compensation for his 
services, declined the intended favor, saying in his let- 
ter to the President of Congress, that he should always 
be happy to show every suitable attention to those who 
called upon him. Mr. Sparks says, " His personal 
civilities were so rendered as to strengthen the affec- 
tions of his friends, and win the esteem of those who 
had known him only by his fame." 

In reading the voluminous correspondence of Wash- 
ington, we cannot but be struck with the frequency 
with which he is called upon to attend to other people's 



1784 -] VARIETY OF LETTERS. 425 

business. The sister of his old enemy, General Charles 
Lee, writes to him from England, to procure her a copy 
of her brother's will. His reply, forwarding the paper, 
is friendly as well as polite. 

Dr. Mesmer writes to General "Washington about 
his new science, and receives a very civil letter in re- 
ply ; the Empress of Russia requests him to procure 
for her some Indian vocabularies, for a Universal Dic- 
tionary, which is making under her auspices, and he 
engages in the business at once ; the Countess of Hun- 
tington, who, as a daughter of "Washington, Earl Fer- 
rers, claimed kin with General Washington, addresses 
him to obtain his countenance and aid in a benevolent 
plan of hers for the Christianization of the Indians, and 
draws him into a long correspondence ; Colonel Carter 
wants a wolf-hound from Europe, and General "Wash- 
ington is requested to write for it. Mr. Houdon wishes 
to make his bust, and gets several letters, and stays a 
fortnight at Mount Yernon ; Mr. Nicholas Pike desires 
to dedicate an Arithmetic to the father of his country, 
who declines, but in a long and very civil letter ; Mr. 
William Gordon wants information and " profiles "— 
(no daguerreotypes in those days !) for a history of the 
Revolution, and gets a long and interesting letter ; 
Mademoiselle de Lafayette, at the mature age of eight, 
sends the general an epistle and receives one in return. 

Mr. Dalby, of Alexandria, goes to Philadelphia in 
pursuit of a runaway slave, and has a long letter from 
General Washington to Robert Morris, by way of in- 



426 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1788. 

traduction. The King of Spain sends General Wash- 
ington a couple of " magnificent " — jackasses, for which 
the general gravely returns thanks in a letter to the 
Count Florida Blanca; Mr. Pine applies, through 
Francis Hopkinson, for leave to paint the general, and 
here is his answer : 

" In for a penny, in for a pound, is an old adage. 
I am so hackneyed to the touches of the painter's pen- 
cil, that I am now altogether at their beck ; and sit, 
' like Patience on a monument,' whilst they are delin- 
eating the lines on my face. It is a proof, among many 
others, of what habit and custom can accomplish. At 
first I was as impatient at the request, and as restive 
under the operation, as a colt is under the saddle. The 
next time I submitted very reluctantly, but with less 
flouncing. Now, no dray horse moves more readily to 
his thill than I to the painter's chair." 

The Marquis de Chastellux, one of the French 
officers who had aided in the war, marries a wife, and 
writes to inform General "Washington of his change of 
condition. In reply we have an unwonted burst of 
gayety : 

" Mount Vernon, 25th April, 1788. 

" To the Marquis de Chastellux : 

" My dear Marquis, — In reading your very friendly 
and acceptable letter, which came to hand by the last 
mail, I was, as you may well suppose, not less delighted 
than surprised to meet the plain American words, ' my 



1788 DOMESTIC HAPPINESS. 427 

wife.' A wife ! "Well, my dear marquis, I can hardly 
refrain from smiling to find you are caught at last. I 
saw, by the eulogium you often made on the happiness 
of domestic life in America, that you had swallowed the 
bait, and that you would as surely be taken, one day or 
another, as that you were a philosopher and a soldier. 
So your day has at length come. I am glad of it, with 
all my heart and soul. It is quite good enough for you. 
JSTow you are well served for coming to fight in favor 
of the American rebels, all the way across the Atlantic 
Ocean, by catching that terrible contagion, domestic 
felicity, which, like the small-pox or the plague, a man 
can have only once in his life, because it generally lasts 
him (at least with us in America ; I know not how you 
manage these matters in France) for his whole lifetime. 
And yet, after all, the worst wish I can find in my 
heart to make against Madame de Chastellux and 
yourself, is, that you may neither of you get the better 
of this same domestic felicity, during the entire course 
of your mortal existence." 

Mr. Lund Washington, in 1783, has to advise the 
widow of Mr. John Parke Custis with respect to a sec- 
ond marriage, and writes to the general, who answers 
him thus : 

" Eocky Hill, 20th September, 1783. 

" To Lund Washington : 

"Dear Lund— Mrs. Custis has never suggested, in 



42$ MEMOIRS OP WASHINGTON. [1788. 

any of her letters to Mrs. Washington (unless ardent 
wishes for her return that she might then disclose it to 
her, can be so construed), the most distant attachment 
to D. S. ; but, if thus should be the case, and she wants 
advice upon it, a father and mother, who are at hand, 
and competent to give it, are at the same time the most 
proper to be consulted on so interesting an event. 
For my own part, I never did, nor do I believe I ever 
shall, give advice to a woman who is setting out on a 
matrimonial voyage ; first, because I never could ad 
vise one to marry without her own consent; and, 
secondly, because I know it is to no purpose to advise 
her to refrain when she has obtained it. A woman 
very rarely asks an opinion or requires advice on such 
an occasion, till her resolution is formed ; and then it 
is with the hope and expectation of obtaining a sanction, 
not that she means to be governed by your disapproba- 
tion, that she applies. In a word, the plain English of 
the application may be summed up in these words : ' I 
wish you to think as I do ; but, if unhappily you differ 
from me in opinion, my heart, I must confess, is fixed, 
and I have gone too far now to retract.' 

" If Mrs. Custis should ever suggest any thing of 
this kind to me, I will give her my opinion of the mea- 
sure, not of the man, with candor, and to the following 
effect. ' I never expected you would spend the rest of 
your days in widowhood / but in a matter so important, 
and so interesting to yourself, children and connections, 
I wish you would make a prudent choice. To do 



1788 -J ADVISING A LADY. 429 

which, many considerations are necessary ; such as the 
family and connections of the man, his fortune (which 
is not the most essential in my eye), the line of conduct 
he has observed, and the disposition and frame of his 
mind. You should consider what prospect there is of 
his proving kind and affectionate to you ; just, generous, 
and attentive to your children ; and how far his con- 
nections will be agreeable to you ; for when they are 
once formed, agreeable or not, the die being cast, your 
fate is fixed.' Thus far, and no farther, I shall go in 
my opinions. I am, dear Lund, &c." 

Without giving more space to the details of the thou- 
sand-and-one calls upon the time and attention of 
"Washington in his retirement, we have £aid enough to 
give an idea of how little his hours were at his own dis- 
posal, and how great must have been the industry 
which enabled him to accomplish so much business 
both small and great. 

A journey of five weeks through the wilderness, six 
hundred and eighty miles on horseback, for the purpose 
of ascertaining the capabilities of his own lands and the 
possibility of a water communication between the East 
and West, was one of the diversities of the period of re- 
tirement ; an expedition which, while it served the pur- 
poses of health and respite from ceaseless interruption, 
proved of very great importance in a patriotic point of 
view. This had been long in his mind, and he commu- 
nicated the results of his observations to the governor 



430 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1788. 

of Virginia in a long and able letter, which is con- 
sidered one of his most sagacious and valuable produc- 
tions. This, says Mr. Sparks, was the first suggestion 
of the great system of internal improvements, which 
has since been pursued in the United States. 

The Legislature of Virginia were so impressed with 
the value of General Washington's suggestions on this 
subject, that they voted him one hundred and fifty 
shares in the companies for the navigation of the rivers 
Potomac and James. But even this free gift, worth 
some forty thousand dollars, was declined, though with 
every expression of gratitude and respect. 

Washington added, however, that if the Assembly 
saw fit to appropriate the gift to some object of public 
usefulness, he would be happy to propose one. This be- 
ing assented to, he divided the amount, giving one hun- 
dred shares to an institution in Rockbridge County, since 
called Washington College, and fifty shares to the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, for the establishment of a National. 
University, an object which he always had much at 
heart. Education was his darling object as a citizen. 
He often lamented his own want of it, and was never 
so well satisfied as when he was providing it for others. 
In several instances he is known to have offered to pay 
for the college education of young men. He accepted 
the Chancellorship of William and Mary College, be- 
cause he loved to lend his name and influence to insti- 
tutions of sound learning, and he left a thousand pounds 
to Alexandria as a contribution to the support of a free 



1788.] MEANS OF EDUCATION. 431 

or ragged school. It is well known that no child ever 
came in any sense nnder his care, for whom he did not 
take the greatest pains in providing every possible means 
of improvement, and give his attention and advice even 
as to the minutiae of character and behavior. It would 
rejoice his heart to see the facilities for education, 
which, in the United States, are now offered to the 
humblest citizen. He would see in them a preparation 
for peace and virtue — the best possible safeguard 
against a misunderstanding or misapplication of the 
great boon of national Liberty. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

State of the Union after the War — Convention for forming the Constitution— "Wash- 
ington's progress to New York — His inauguration as first President of the United 
States — Labors and excitement afterwards — Severe illness — Death of his mother 
— Her character — How much was her son indebted to her ? — Character of his wife. 

Did Washington, when he found himself once more 
established in this beloved home, surrounded by the 
objects, the employments, the friends he so much loved 
and had so long coveted — did he give himself up to 
quiet enjoyment, and, with a feeling that he had made 
all the sacrifices to public duty that could reasonably 
be asked of any man, forget the trembling interests of 
his newly-delivered country, or leave the care of them 
to younger and more ambitious patriots ? 

Very far from this is the conclusion to which we 
arrive by a study of Ins papers of the period. Hardly 
a day passed over his head at Mount Vernon, that did 
not bring letter or visitor, whose topic was the dis- 
turbed and unhappy state of public affairs at this criti- 
cal juncture ; and at no moment was Washington so 
much occupied with private and personal business or 



1787.] CONVENTION AT PHILADELPHIA. 433 

pleasure, that lie failed to give the most earnest atten- 
tion to every sign of the times. 

He very soon became aware that what was called 
the Union was a mere collection of fragments, held to- 
gether by the necessity of the day, and that the in- 
stant the war ceased, these must fall asunder at once, 
leaving incongruity to become enmity at the slightest 
provocation. Disunion and jealousy had already shown 
themselves, and to a despondent eye, the liberty so 
dearly purchased was about to become useless, through 
the pride, selfishness, and short-sighted folly of those 
who wished to grasp it, forgetful of the solemn condi- 
tions on which alone it can be enjoyed. 

These sad truths came home to the Father of his 
Country in various forms. The first and best men con- 
fided their fears to him, entreated his advice, and looked 
to his wisdom and his influence as their best earthly hope. 
He himself was at times a good deal depressed. " Il- 
liberally," he says, "jealousy, and local policy mix too 
much in all our public councils for the good govern- 
ment of the Union." 

At length we find him, after many efforts to be ex- 
cused, appointed one of the delegates to a Convention 
held in Philadelphia for revising the Constitution. 

One part of his preparation for the important duty 
of revising the government of the newly-delivered 
country, and establishing that difficult form of national 
life— a Eepublic, or self-governing body, was a careful 
review of all former confederated governments, in- 
19 



434 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1787. 

eluding the Lycian, Amphictyonic, Achsean, Helvetic, 
Belgic, and Germanic. A paper in kis own handwrit- 
ing, in wkick all tke particulars relating to tke struc- 
ture of tkese republics are noted, bears witness to tke 
conscientious industry witk wkick ke applied all kis 
powers to tke study of any subject on wkick ke was 
called to act. 

He was ckosen President, and tke result of tke 
Convention was tkat venerated instrument, known as 
tke Constitution of the United States. 

For tke assembled wisdom and goodness of tke na- 
tion to devise tke Constitution, witk all tke foresigkt 
and impartiality tkat could be expected of imperfect 
humanity, was one thing ; to secure tke adoption of it 
by thirteen jealous States was quite another. Wask- 
ington says of it that lie was " not suck an entkusiastic, 
partial or undiscriminating admirer of it, as not to per- 
ceive it is tinctured with some real, though not radical 
defects," and others of the best men thought with him, 
but as each objector when pressed for his sentiments, 
would pick out a different point for censure, the con- 
clusion was fairly drawn, that, after all, the Constitu- 
tion was as nearly perfect as could be rationally ex- 
pected ; and the votes of nine States, the number neces- 
sary for its legal ratification, were obtained in rather 
less than a year. 

This was no sooner accomplished than the neces- 
sity for electing a President made a new ferment. 
Washington's was the name on every lip. The man 



1788 d CHOSEN PRESIDENT. 435 

who had led the nation safely through the tremendous 
struggle for liberty, and whose wisdom had again been 
made manifest in the formation of the Constitution, 
was the one to whom the people and the world natu- 
rally looked as the best fitted to reconcile jarring ele- 
ments, and teach his countrymen what this freedom, 
which had cost them so dear, really meant and re- 
quired. 

The object of public attention could not long re- 
main ignorant that all eye's were fixed on him. With 
what dread reluctance he admitted the thought of be- 
ing President, may easily be gathered from his letters 
to his friends, sustained as they are by the united testi- 
mony of all who knew him. It was no mock modesty 
or pretended unwillingness that made his inclinations 
point towards Mount Yernon. " At my age," he says, 
" and in my circumstances, what object or personal 
emolument had I to seek after in this life ? The great 
Searcher of human hearts is my witness, that I have 
no wish which aspires beyond the humble and happy 
lot of living and dying a private citizen on my own 
farm." 

He speaks in another place of " the dreaded di- 
lemma of being forced to accept or refuse ; " says he 
has always felt a sort of gloom on his mind when he 
has thought of it, and a diffidence and reluctance that 
he never experienced before. 

It was known that Washington was the choice of 
the nation, nearly a month before an official notifica- 



436 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [17S9. 

tion of the fact was sent to Mount Yernon, the action 
of Congress having been delayed by various circum- 
stances. Washington says — " The delay may be com- 
pared to a reprieve." His diary thus records his de- 
parture from home : — 

"April 16th, 1789. 

" About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, 
to private life and to domestic felicity ; and, with a 
mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensa- 
tions than I have words to express, set out for New 
York, with the best disposition to render service to my 
country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of 
answering its expectations." 

His progress to New York was one continued tri- 
umph. The people poured forth to greet him and to 
heap blessings upon him. Trenton, in particular, once, 
under an inclement sky and midnight darkness, the 
scene of a splendid achievement, met him with honors 
that touched his heart and filled his eyes with tears 
of gratified feeling. A beautiful arch of evergreens 
crowned the bridge over which the brave legions of 
seventy-seven had passed in their snowy inarch, and 
emblems of love and honor shone where heavy banners 
and almost as heavy hearts once passed. As the gen- 
eral with his cortege passed under these, a crowd of lit- 
tle girls, with wreaths on their heads, and carrying 
baskets from which they scattered flowers in the path 



1789.] Washington's inauguration. 437 

of the hero, sang a song of welcome, while their moth- 
ers, who stood in palpitating silence on either side, ac- 
companied the music with mingled tears and smiles. 

The scene quite overcame Washington. He often 
spoke of it afterwards, and declared that it completely 
unmanned him. 

A splendid deputation from New York met the 
presidential cavalcade at Elizabethtown, and a grand 
flotilla accompanied him to New York. 

In Washington's diary we find this sober thought 
of all the splendor: — 

" The display of boats which attended and joined 
on this occasion, some with vocal and others with in- 
strumental music on board ; the decorations of the 
ships, the roar of cannon, and the loud acclamations of 
the people which rent the sky as I passed along the 
wharves, tilled my mind (contemplating the reverse of 
this scene, which may be the case after all my labors 
to do good) with sensations as painful as they were 
pleasing." 

Thursday, April 13th, was the day of the inaugura- 
tion. It was opened with divine service in the differ- 
ent churches, so solemn an event as the commencement 
of our government seeming to the people worthy of as 
solemn ceremonies. After this the President moved in 
procession to Federal Hall, in Wall street, where the 
Custom House now stands, and was received at the 
door and conducted to the chair by the Yice President, 
John Adams. After he had been informed that both 



438 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1789. 

Houses of Congress were ready to proceed with the cere- 
monies of the day, "Washington arose and moved 
towards the balcony, before which immense crowds of 
people were assembled, and there, in the sight of the 
multitude, took the oath of office, which was adminis- 
tered by the Chancellor, Brockholst Livingston, the 
secretary of the Senate bearing the Bible on a crim- 
son cushion. 

Washington was dressed in a full suit of dark brown 
cloth, with white silk stockings, all of American man- 
ufacture ; silver buckles in his shoes, and his hair tied 
and powdered. In kissing the book as he took the 
oath, he was observed to say audibly, " I swear ! " add- 
ing, with closed eyes, as if to collect all his being into 
the momentous act — " So help me God ! " Then the 
Chancellor said, " It is done ! " and turning to the 
multitude, waved his hand, and with a loud voice ex- 
claimed, " Long live George Washington, President of 
the United States ! " 

The acclamations of the crowd below re-echoed the 
announcement, and the roar of artillery gave notice to 
the country round that the birth of a new nation was 
accomplished. 

Beturned to the Senate chamber, the President de- 
livered his Inaugural Address, a paper, like all his other 
public ones, full of wisdom, moderation, good taste, and 
a deep sense of responsibility. 

In the evening the city was splendidly illuminated, 
and the President, with two attendants, went in a car- 



1789 d LEVEES AND DINNERS. 439 

riage to different points to enjoy the scene, but was 
obliged to return home on foot, the crowd being too 
dense to admit the passage of a carriage. 

Great throngs of company soon beset the new offi- 
cials, and the President in particular was allowed no 
rest, until he established certain hours and forms for 
the reception of visitors. Simple as was this ceremo- 
nial, there were those who condemned it as unrepub- 
lican, though we are not informed that they proposed 
any other method by which the President could better 
reconcile his duties one with the other. 

Every Friday afternoon Mrs. Washington received 
company, and once a week there was a large dinner 
party, to which heads of departments, strangers of dis- 
tinction, and marked citizens were invited in turn. 

A grand ball was given in New York on the occa- 
sion of the Inauguration, although not till a week or 
ten days had elapsed, to give time for the despatch of 
a great mass of public business. The President at- 
tended, although Mrs. Washington had not yet reached 
the seat of government, and he is recorded to have 
danced on the occasion " two cotillions and a minuet."* 

* The question of ceremony was still agitated with a vehemence that 
would hetter have hecome the court of Pekin ; and even Mr. Jefferson, 
who, with all his acuteness, sometimes took up stories on hearsay, gives a 
ludicrous account of this hall, but which is proved to be totally erroneous, 
by the fact that neither Mrs. Washington nor Mrs. Knox was present at it. 
The authority quoted is " Mr. Brown," but not the celebrated "Brown " of 
our day, who would doubtless have been better informed in such a case. 
As a picture of the times, we should like to quote the story, but must refer 
our readers to the "Republican Court," page 15G. 



440 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1789. 

Mrs. Washington set out from Mount Vernon on 
the 19th of May, in her own carriage, with her grand- 
children, Miss and Master Custis. Wherever she 
stopped the people turned out to do her honor, and 
fireworks and serenading enlivened every evening. 
Two troops of dragoons and a large train of the first 
citizens rode out from Philadelphia, to meet her at a 
place ten miles off; and as her carriage approached, 
the military formed, and received her with the honors 
due to the commander-in-chief. 

As she went on towards New York, these demon- 
strations of respect still greeted her at every halt, and 
at Elizabethtown her husband, accompanied by many 
distinguished persons, met her with a splendid barge, 
manned by thirteen pilots in white uniforms, and so 
took her across the glad waters to her home in the city. 

According to the account of Mr. Wingate, the Pres- 
ident gave a private dinner on Mrs. Washington's ar- 
rival, rather plainer in style than we should think even 
decent in these extravagant days. The particulars 
mentioned are few, but the idea conveyed is that of ex- 
cessive frugality : — " It was the least showy," we are 
told, " of any that the writer ever saw at the Presi- 
dent's table." Yet the company was large and very 
distinguished. 

As to Washington's resolute frugality, we have an 
anecdote, mentioned in the volume just quoted, and 
elsewhere. His steward, Sam Fraunces, an old caterer, 
and who had been cautioned again and again as to the 



1789 TOO MUCH FOR A SHAD. 441 

particularity with which the President would examine 
his accounts, had provided for breakfast a very fine 
shad, the first of the season. "The next morning it was 
duly served, in the Lest style, for breakfast ; on sitting 
down to which, Washington observed the fragrant del- 
icacy, and asked what it was. The steward replied 
that it was a fine shad. ' It is very early in the sea- 
son for shad — how much did you pay for it ? ' ' Two 
dollars.' ' Two dollars ! I cannot encourage such 
extravagance at my table. Take it away — I will not 
touch it.' The shad was accordingly removed, and 
Fraunces, who had no such scruples, made a hearty meal 
upon it in his own room." 

It is said that Mrs. Washington was a little aristo- 
cratic in her feelings, at least so far as not to relish the 
democratic style brought in by the French Kevolution. 
This we may easily believe ; for she came of a pros- 
perous and wealthy old family, and was herself a belle 
and an heiress, accustomed to admiration and deference 
from her earliest youth. If her quiet spirit could rise 
and look in upon one of those things called presiden- 
tial levees in our day ! 

Yet she was a most excellent wife and mistress of 
the family, devoted to duty and her husband, and set- 
ting an example of economy and industry very rare in 
her station. Content with the greatness described by 
the wise king, she looked well to her maidens, and so 
managed the affairs of a large establishment, that " the 
heart of her husband could safely trust in her, so that 
19* 



442 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1789. 

he had no need of spoil." Who knows how much the 
good management and moderation of his household 
had to do with Washington's superiority to the tempta- 
tions of gain ? Women should see to it that they so 
regulate their habits of expense, that their husbands 
shall have " no need of spoil." The extravagant tastes 
of Mrs. Arnold, amiable woman though she was, are 
known to have heightened her husband's rapacity, and 
thus added to the incentives which resulted in treason 
and ruin. Mrs. Washington, when she was in the 
highest position in the nation, wore gowns spun under 
her own roof; and she always took care, in her conver- 
sation with the ladies about her, to exalt domestic em- 
ployments, and to represent them as belonging to the 
duty of woman in any station. She was reputed to be 
the writer of a patriotic paper, published in 1780, 
called the "Sentiments of an American Woman ;" but 
this has not been ascertained. The energy and consist- 
ency of her patriotic feeling was, however, perfectly 
understood, and she is said to have borne her part in 
the conversation, in distinguished company, with inva- 
riable dignity and sweetness. 

Soon after his inauguration, Washington, overcome 
by excessive labors and continual excitement, was 
seized with a violent illness which confined him for six 
weeks. 

" During this period Dr. Bard never quitted him. 
On one occasion, being left alone with him, General 
Washington, looking steadfastly in his face, desired his 



1789 d DEATH OF THE MOTHER. 443 

candid opinion as to the probable termination of his 
disease, adding, with that placid firmness which marked 
his address, ' Do not flatter me with vain hopes ; I am 
not afraid to die, and therefore can bear the worst.' 
Dr. Bard's answer, though it expressed hope, acknow- 
ledged his apprehensions. The President replied, 
' Whether to-night or twenty years hence makes no 
difference ; I know that I am in the hands of a good 
Providence." 

Before the President had entirely recovered, he re- 
ceived intelligence of the illness and death of his aged 
mother, of whom he had taken a tender leave when he 
set out to assume the presidency, feeling that he should 
probably never see her more. 

It is said that at this last parting, Washington, em- 
bracing his mother, bowed his head upon her shoulder 
and wept, murmuring at the same time something of a 
hope that they should meet again. " No, George," she 
replied, " this is our last parting; my days to come are 
few. But go, fulfil your high duties, and may God 
bless and keep you." 

His mother was then dying of the cancer which at 
last put a painful end to her life, at the age of eighty- 
two. Honored as she deserved to be, and showing to 
the last the resolution and fortitude which had distin- 
guished her through life, she descended to the grave with 
dignity, and left.a name far above all titles. To have been 
the mother of Washington was enough. The world has 
agreed to consider some of his noblest traits as derived 



444 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1789. 

from her ; and to lier steadiness of character, her sound, 
common-sense views, her high and stern morality, and 
her deep sense of religious responsibility, are undoubt- 
edly due a large part of the illustrious virtues which 
made her son what he was. She hated glare and hol- 
lowness, and so, from first to last, did he. His love of 
fame had no reference to such reputation as is fortuitous 
and unearned. He would at any time take more pains 
to get rid of a credit which did not belong to him, than 
to vindicate his title to any honor that was his due. 
Truth, solidity, transparency, modesty ; a pride not in- 
consistent with deep humility, and a love of reputation 
which never glanced toward any sacrifice of principle, 
— these were the traits of the son, " known and read of 
all men ; " and, accepting, in some measure, a tradition- 
ary estimate of the mother, these are they which all the 
world agrees to give her credit for. Woman cannot 
ask a more generous construction of facts, or a nobler 
encouragement to virtue. If we are to be judged by 
the virtues of our sons, what preparation, attention, or 
sacrifice can be too much for a mother? Too often 
their weakness, their vice, the poverty or shame of 
their career, is laid at our door ; but here is at least 
one instance, that when their virtues are eminent, man- 
kind is just and candid enough to remember that in 
this direction too, the mother's forming power should 
be recognized. 

As soon as the President's health was restored, 
after the severe attack we have mentioned, he made 



1789 -] SHARP PASSAGES. 445 

a long-intended tour through the Eastern States, trav- 
elling in his own chariot, attended on horseback by 
his secretaries. Showing what very trifles may dis- 
turb the equanimity of great people, there was a 
misunderstanding on some point of etiquette, as the 
President approached Boston, which seems to have 
thrown both him and the excellent Governor of Massa- 
chusetts, John Hancock, — u the most generous and dis- 
interested of men," — off their usual balance a little, and 
occasioned some sharp passages between them. The 
Governor had written, inviting the President to make 
his house his home while in Boston, which invitation 
the President courteously declined, urging his invari- 
able rule never to burden any private family in that 
way. The Governor then changed the invitation to one 
for a family dinner, which the President accepted. 

But the public reception of the President was to in- 
tervene. For this Governor Hancock had made what 
he considered very satisfactory arrangements, but un- 
happily the Selectmen of the town of Boston had made 
other, and quite different ones. Both desired to pay 
the highest honors to the illustrious guest, but each 
chose to manage the matter in their own way. 

Wh,en the President was approaching the town, the 
dispute was at its height. Both authorities held back, 
while messengers were posting between them. The day 
was cold and disagreeable; the President sat shivering 
on his horse, on Boston Neck, waiting to enter the town 
in due form. He inquired the cause of the delay, and 



446 mehoiks of Washington. [1789. 

expressed impatience when he heard what it was. 
Turning to his secretary, he asked whether there was 
no other avenne to the town ; and was in the act of 
turning his horse's head, when he was informed that 
the difficulty was accommodated. All this because the 
Governor claimed the honor of receiving the President, 
while the Selectmen considered it their privilege. 

We have noticed this little flurry, partly because it 
is amusing, and partly to show how sensitive the new 
governments were on the score of etiquette, while all 
was yet in a forming state, and each trivial affair as- 
sumed an importance not its own, but only as a seed 
of the future. Matters of etiquette always have a cer- 
tain significance, and are often therefore more important 
than they seem. It was on this ground that Washing- 
ton was, as a public man, rather punctilious ; in his 
private character ceremony was burdensome to him ; 
he loved simplicity and directness, and that honhommie 
which takes it for granted that every body behaves as 
well as he knows how ; but where the public interest 
or official dignity was in' question, he quite enraged 
forward or ill-bred people, sometimes, by the pertina- 
city with which he adhered to established forms. 
When at home at Mount Vernon, he was equally reso- 
lute against ceremonious restraints. 



CHAPTEK XXXVIII. 

Presidential tour — A careless groom— Observations on the country— Internal im- 
provements— Washington's desire to resign — The remonstrances of his friends 
— His re-election— Difficulties with France — Jay's Treaty— Citizen Genet— Retire- 
ment of Washington. 

In 1791 the President made a tour through the South- 
ern States, travelling in twelve weeks about nineteen 
hundred miles, with the same horses. This shows the 
care and judgment which he always exercised where 
his horses were concerned ; for nothing less than his 
knowledge of the animal and his consideration for its 
well-being, could have enabled him to accomplish such 
a journey. He always looked after his horses himself, 
daily ascertained their condition, and gave particular 
directions to the stablemen for their management. 

It is traditionally said that he once, with a good 
deal of unction, tried the stirrup-leather on the shoul- 
ders of a groom who had left a favorite horse uncared 
for, after "Washington had ridden him pretty bard on 
the preceding evening. The servant thought he would 
be up so early that his master would never find out the 
omission ; but Washington was too prompt for him, and 



448 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1791. 

while Cupid, or perhaps Apollo, was dreaming of last 
night's frolic, the sound of the stable-hell just at dawn 
announced that the unhappy steed had mutely told his 
own story. The result would certainly have afforded 
amusement to a bystander, especially as the President 
had doubtless lost some of the strength of arm which 
distinguished him in early times when he flogged the 
poacher, or when he shook the two fighting soldiers at 
Cambridge. 

The presidential tours which Washington thought it 
incumbent on him to make, for the sake of becoming 
personally accpiainted with the state of the country and 
of the public mind, and of allowing the people to obtain 
a more immediate knowledge of their chief magistrate, 
were perhaps the most agreeable portions of his life 
during those anxious and laborious years. He was fond 
of travelling, and as soon as he found himself in a re- 
gion new to him, his mind left the old ruts of oflice 
and routine duty, and aired and invigorated itself by 
wider surveys, and speculations on the possibilities 
offered by any and every natural advantage, whether 
of soil, watercourse, mine, or peat marsh. Even the 
Dismal Swamp was indebted to him for surveys and im- 
provements. All his conjectures and conclusions on 
matters of internal improvement were carefully regis- 
tered, and he thus obtained and preserved a body of 
information which was continually coming into use, and 
proving of great value to himself and the public. He 
possessed the wisdom which legislators so often lack — 



1792 POLITICAL FEKMENT. 449 

the wisdom which prompts to home-development 
rather than foreign conquest ; making the most of what 
we have, rather than seeking to acquire more for the 
sake of mere possession. 

"When the question of Washington's resignation came 
up — or rather when he expressed his determination to 
resign, for he did not wish to put it in the form of a 
question — all party and other differences disappeared 
at once, in the unanimity with which he was urged to 
undertake the labors and embarrassments of another 
presidential term. " The confidence of the whole 
Union," says, Jefferson, u is centred in you." Hamil- 
ton, after a labored argument, " I trust and pray God 
that you will determine to make a further sacrifice of 
your tranquillity and happiness to the public good." 
Gouverneur Morris,—" It will be time enough for you 
to have a successor when it shall please God to call you 
from this world." 

Washington, though longing for home and rest, and 
so resolved upon resigning that he had already pre- 
pared a farewell address to the people, could not with- 
stand the general opinion and desire, so urgently ex- 
pressed. The unanimous vote of the electors again 
ushered him into the chair, and he took the oath of 
office for the second time, on the 4th of March, 1793. 

Affairs of state were not without their peculiar 
trials during the second term. The political relations 
of our country with our late enemy England, and with 
our stanch ally, France, had assumed an aspect of 



450 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1795. 

great complexity and difficulty — one party accusing 
the President of a partiality towards Great Britain, the 
other fancying him too much disposed to favor revolu- 
tionary France. The first-mentioned factionists in- 
sisted on his acceding to the insolent demands of Citi- 
zen Genet in behalf of the Directory; but Washington, 
having determined that neutrality was the proper pol- 
icy for this country, withstood all possible abuse and 
even the terrors of a mob, which, says John Adams, 
gathered in the streets of Philadelphia, to the number 
of ten thousand, threatening to drag the President from 
his house and seize the government. Quietly, as was 
his wont, he pursued the course he had decided to be 
best for the country, and menaces of personal violence 
moved him no more than they would stir his Jove-like 
marble image in the Capitol grounds. 

The commercial treaty with Great Britain, effected 
by Mr. John Jay, caused almost equal popular dissafc 
isfaction ; and when it became necessary to apply to the 
House of Representatives for means to carry it into 
effect, that body demanded the submission of papers 
to its inspection, as a condition of its action in the 
matter. This Washington resisted as unconstitutional, 
and endured a new shower of obloquy in consequence. 
Being, however, sustained by the opinion of his legal 
advisers, he stood firm, and in the end triumphed, as he 
invariably did, because he always ascertained his duties 
before he attempted to perform them. That he was 
annoyed by this incessant struggle, and wounded by 



1798 d ONE MOKE DISTURBANCE. 451 

these malignant attacks, is but too obvious from his let- 
ters ; and we learn, not only by his own observations, 
but by those of Mr. Jefferson and others, that his health 
was seriously broken by the unusual trials of his posi- 
tion. 

But he endured to the end, and allowed no personal 
considerations to deter him from the arduous task he 
had undertaken. A third presidential term was pro- 
posed to him ; but this he resolutely declined. As 
the time approached when he was to be released from 
the cares and anxieties of government, after he had 
written the inestimable Farewell Address — " the re- 
sult of much experience and reflection" — as he mod- 
estly says ; it is evident that his mind luxuriated in 
images of repose and seclusion. To a friend he writes : 
— " To the wearied traveller who sees a resting-place, 
and is bending his body to lean thereon, I now compare 
myself." 

He was not, however, allowed to enjoy the absolute 
tranquillity he hoped for. A cloud of war soon dark- 
ened the horizon, the shadow of troublous times in dis- 
tracted France. At the first threat of this new trouble, 
the country turned again to its old defender, and re- 
quired his services as commander-in-chief -of any forces 
that it might be found necessary to raise against French 
invasion. His consent was a matter of course, with a 
stipulation, that he was not to be called to the field ex- 
cept in case of actual invasion. 

Washington, however, although he agreed on think- 



452 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1798. 

ing warlike preparations necessary, did not believe the 
invasion would ever take place, and the event justified 
his foresight. The clouds of war passed by, and he 
was relieved from the new responsibility, though not 
until it had cost him a good deal of laborious and anx- 
ious planning of ways and means. 

Once more the beloved shades were all his own, 
with the hope, so fondly recurred to at every opportu- 
nity, of spending " the remnant of a life worn down 
with cares, in contemplation of the past, and in scenes, 
present and to come, of rural enjoyment." 



CIIAPTEK XXXIX. 

Washington's short enjoyment of repose— nis illness, sufferings and death— Funeral 
ceremonies — Grief of the nation— Resolutions of Congress — Bequest for his re- 
mains—Mrs. "Washington's reply — Our responsibilities as countrymen of Wash- 
ington. 

" Man proposes, God disposes." The quiet enjoyment 
so longed for as the fitting close of a life of arduous 
duty ; the period of peace and self-recollection, and 
solemn special preparation for a new condition of be- 
ing, desired by the wise and good man, was destined 
to be short indeed. Scarcely had the prospect of war 
faded away, and the country returned to its usual 
occupations and interests, and the enjoyment of the 
good secured to it by the toils of its brave defenders, 
when he who had been foremost in labors and sac- 
rifices, wisest in council, most patient under defeat 
and obloquy, most moderate in victory, least elated by 
praise, was summoned to the Great Audit, the nature 
and importance of which he had so well learned when 
a child at his mother's knee. His time on earth was 
suddenly finished, and we may consider it a new mark 
of the heavenly favor, that he was withdrawn from a 
scene in which he had acted so conspicuous a part, be- 



454: MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

fore the failure of his powers had lessened the univer- 
sal reverence he had been able to inspire. Washing- 
ton was not left to outlive himself. His sun went not 
down in gloomy clouds, but, canopied gloriously by the 
people's love and the whole world's reverence, shone 
with full splendor to the last. His rural occupations 
were pursued with unabated interest and vigor ; he 
drew up plans for the management of his estate ex- 
tending to some four years ahead, saying that even a 
plan not the best was better than no plan ; he planted 
trees, for shade as well as fruit ; he beautified his estate 
by care of the gardens and shrubbery, and he never, 
unless in case of very bad weather, omitted his daily 
ride round the estate, for the minute inspection of the 
farm business and the care of the negroes. 

But in December, 1790, there was a cold and rather 
threatening morning, whose bleak winds should have 
warned a man of sixty-eight that the fireside was the 
best place for him. Washington, however, disregard- 
ing his wife's prudent advica, rode out as usual, having 
something particular to attend to. It began to rain 
and snow soon after he departed. About dinner time 
he returned, cold and weary, and somewhat wet, the 
rain having penetrated to his neck, while snow hung 
on his white locks. Mrs. Washington was concerned 
to see this, and begged him to make some change in 
his dress, but he thought it unnecessary, saying his 
great coat had protected him. He spent the evening 
as usual, reading aloud to the family, although he was 



1799 THE LAST MESSENGEE. 455 

observed to be a little hoarse. The next day, which 
proved still more stormy, he seemed nearly as well as 
usual, though he complained of having taken cold, and 
the weather prevented his ride. He franked some let- 
ters which Mr. Lear had written, but forbore to send 
them to the post-office, saying the weather was too bad 
to send a servant out with them. At intervals when 
the skies were a little more favorable, he went out to 
attend to the planting of some trees. The evening of 
this day, Friday, December 13th, passed in the usual 
domestic way, the general very cheerful, and reading 
aloud a little, though with evident difficulty from in- 
creased hoarseness. 

About three in the morning he awoke Mrs. "Wash- 
ington, saying that he had a chill and felt very unwell ; 
but he would not allow her to get up lest she should 
take cold. At daylight when the servants came to 
make a fire, he desired that a person on the farm — the 
overseer, who was in the habit of performing the office 
for the negroes — should be sent for, to bleed him. 

Bleeding used to be the remedy for all sorts of dis- 
eases, especially in the country, where the services of 
a physician cannot readily be obtained. This practice, 
very much objected to by Mrs. Washington at the time, 
is now universally condemned, and it was doubtless the 
very worst remedy that could have been tried in the 
case of Washington, an old man, and extremely tem- 
perate in his habits. The overseer hesitated, and 
opened a vein timidly ; but his master insisted, saying, 



456 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

though with difficulty — " Don't be afraid — the orifice 
is not large enough." But the disease, which was -in 
the throat, grew worse hour by hour, 

As the day went on, there were further attempts to 
reduce the patient, who by this time had begun to need 
all his remaining strength to draw his laboring breath. 

" I cannot last long," he said to Mr. Lear, his secre- 
tary, who attended him like a son ; " I cannot last long. 
I feel that I am going. I believed from the first, that 
the attack would prove fatal. Do you arrange and re- 
cord all my military letters and papers ; arrange my 
accounts and settle my books, as you know more about 
them than any one else." " He then asked me," says 
Mr. Lear, " if I recollected any thing else that it was 
essential for him to do, as he had but a very short time 
to continue with us. I told him that I could recollect 
nothing, but that I hoped he was not so near his end. 
He observed, smiling, that he certainly was, and that, 
as it was the debt we must all pay, he looked to the 
event with perfect resignation." 

He was raised on the bed, and, as well as he could 
find utterance, said to his physicians — " I am much 
obliged for all your care and attention. Do not take 
any more trouble about me, but let me go off quietly ; 
I cannot last long." 

To his friend Dr. Craik — " Doctor, I die hard, but 
I am not afraid to go." The doctor, who had been his 
friend from childhood, turned away, overwhelmed with 
grief, at his terrible sufferings and the loss that must 






l799 KIND EVEN IN DEATH. 457 

come. Washington, noticing that the black servant 
had been standing a long time, in the midst of his suf- 
ferings desired him to sit down. 

At eight in the evening the physicians came into 
the room and tried more remedies, but in vain. After 
this time the patient breathed with less difficulty, but 
was very restless, with the restlessness of approaching 
dissolution ; often changing his position, seeking the 
ease or relief which was not to come, and frequently 
asking the hour. 

Mr. Lear says, — " I aided him all in my power, and 
was gratified in believing he felt it, for he would look 
upon me with eyes speaking gratitude, but unable to 
utter a word without great distress. 

" About ten o'clock he made several efforts to speak 
to me before he could effect it. At length he said — 
' I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do 
not let my body be put into the vault iu less than two 
days after I am dead.' I bowed assent. He looked at 
me again, and said—' Do you understand me?' I re- 
plied, < Yes, sir ! ' He said, ' 'Tis well.' " 

" About ten minutes before he expired, his breath- 
ing became much easier ; he lay quietly. He withdrew 
his hand from mine and felt his own pulse. I spoke to 
Dr. Craik, who sat by the fire ; he came to the bedside. 
The general's hand fell from his wrist ; I took it in 
mine and placed it on my breast. Dr. Craik closed his 
eyes, and he expired without groan or struggle." 



20 



458 MEMOIKS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

" In all his distress," says Mr. Lear, " he uttered 
not a sigh nor a complaint, always endeavoring, from 
a sense of duty, as it appeared, to take what was offered 
him, and to do as he was desired by the physicians. 
His patience, fortitude and resignation, never forsook 
him for a moment." 

Twice during the last day's sufferings, Washington 
asked to be assisted in rising, was dressed and sat by 
the fire, as if hoping by the exertion of resolution, and 
what bodily strength remained, to struggle against dis- 
ease. But finding no relief, he quietly submitted and 
laid himself down to die, with the feeling that his work 
was done and his discharge at hand. 

All his affairs were found in perfect order, his books 
posted up to the preceding Tuesday, and his will care- 
fully written out by his own hand, each page signed 
with his name. At the close, after mention of the ex- 
ecutors, is the wise parting injunction to those inter- 
ested, never, under any circumstances of disagreement, 
to have recourse to litigation, but in case of difference 
with respect to the will, to submit the matter to arbi- 
trators whose sentence should be final. 

On Wednesday, December 18th, 1799, the people 
assembled, from far and near, to pay the last honors to 
the greatest and best of men. The lawns and groves of 
Mount Vernon, so long the home of his best pleasures 
and object of his cares, were thronged with mourners, 
personal friends, military companies, and members of the 
Masonic Order. Cannon were brought and placed on 



1799 -3 HONORS FEOM THE HEART. 459 

the heights, to announce the moment when the hero's 
dust was committed to its parent earth. A vessel lay 
off shore, firing minute guns as the procession begau to 
form. The train moved across the lawn, soldiers lead- 
ing and escorting it ; the clergy in advance of the coffin, 
which was borne by masonic brethren and officers of 
the army ; the war-horse, with holsters and pistols 
hanging at its empty saddle, led by two grooms clothed 
in black, followed ; then members of the family and old 
friends ; the Corporation of Alexandria and a great 
concourse of citizens, — and this was all. 

Washington's wish and even command that his 
funeral might be modest — that his body might "be in 
terred in a private manner, without parade or funeral 
oration,"— was thus literally fulfilled. The nation 
would gladly have ordered a splendid ceremonial to 
give all possible expression to its sense of this great 
loss ; but the desire of Washington, so natural to one 
averse to all personal display, was thoroughly respected. 
The feet of those who bore him to the tomb trod only 
on the soft grass he had loved to cultivate, and the 
trees under which he had so long felt himself most 
truly at home, waved above his final resting-place far 
more appropriately than the most gorgeous banners 
would have done. The " new tomb " which he had 
ordered, was not yet completed, though he had said, in 
speaking of other buildings, " Let it be finished first, for 
I may want it first," The old one received his remains 
for the time. 



460 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

Afterwards, when the present one was ready, a 
stone sarcophagus was prepared — and in this the origi- 
nal coffin was deposited, there to remain for ever. 

Both Houses of Congress adjourned, on hearing of 
the death of "Washington. The Senate addressed Presi- 
dent Adams in a letter the eloquence of which was that 
of the heart. " On this occasion," says that admirable 
paper, " it is manly to weep. To lose such a man, at 
such a crisis, is no common calamity to the world. 
Our country mourns a father. The Almighty Disposer 
of human events has taken from us our greatest bene- 
factor and ornament. It becomes us to submit Avith 
reverence to him ' who maketh darkness his pavilion.' 

"With patriotic pride we review the life of our 
Washington, and compare him with those of other 
countries who have been pre-eminent in fame. An- 
cient and modern times are diminished before him. 
Greatness and guilt have too often been allied ; but his 
fame is whiter than it is brilliant. The destroyers of 
nations stood abashed at the majesty of his virtues. It 
reproved the intemperance of their ambition, and dark- 
ened the splendor of victory. The scene is closed, and 
we are no longer anxious lest misfortune should sully 
his glory ; he has travelled on to the end of his journey, 
and carried with him an increasing weight of honor ; 
he has deposited it safely, where misfortune cannot 
tarnish it, where malice cannot blast it. Favored of 
Heaven, he departed without exhibiting the weakness 



1799> ] THE TEUE WIFE SPEAKS. 461 

of humanity. Magnanimous in death, the darkness of 
the grave conld not obscure his brightness. 

" Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to 
God, his glory is consummated. Washington yet 
lives on earth, in his spotless example ; his spirit is in 
Heaven. 

" Let his country consecrate the memory of the he- 
roic general, the patriotic statesman, and the virtuous 
sage. Let them teach their children never to forget 
that the fruits of his labors and his example are their 
inheritance." 

The President replied appropriately, and both 
Houses of Congress united in requesting Mrs. "Wash- 
ington to yield the precious remains of her husband to 
the keeping of the nation, to be placed under a monu- 
ment worthy of his fame. 

Mrs. Washington replied in a letter unsurpassable 
for gracious feeling and unaffected dignity: 

" Mount Vernon, December Zlst, 1799. 
" Sir,— While I feel, with keenest anguish, the late 
dispensation of Divine Providence, I cannot be insen- 
sible to the mournful tributes of respect and venera- 
tion, which are paid to the memory of my dear de- 
ceased husband; and, as his best services and most 
anxious wishes were always devoted to the welfare 
and happiness of his country, to know that they were 



462 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

truly appreciated and gratefully remembered, affords 
no inconsiderable consolation. 

" Taught by the great example which I have so 
long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes 
to the public will, I must consent to the request made 
by Congress, which you have had the goodness to 
transmit to me; and, in doing this, I need not — I can- 
not say, what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make 
to a sense of public duty. 

" With grateful acknowledgment, and unfeigned 
thanks for the personal respect and evidences of con- 
dolence expressed by Congress and yourself, I remain, 
very respectfully, 

" Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 

" Martha Washington." 

The grief of the nation was profound and most 
warmly expressed. The whole country seemed at first 
as if stricken with a palsy. The suddenness of the 
blow — for the intelligence of illness and of death came 
at one and the same moment, — made the public feeling 
all the mure striking. But as soon as this first blank 
horror had settled into conviction, and the idea — 
" Washington is no more ! " had been fully received, 
the whole country broke forth into heartfelt lamenta- 
tions, and language was exhausted in the attempt to 
express what was beyond expression. Funeral proces- 
sions and funeral orations and eulogies were the natural 
offering of every village. For at least once, the unity 



1799 OUR DUTIES TO HIS MEMORY. 463 

of feeling which "Washington had so earnestly recom- 
mended was complete. No sectional jealousy checked 
the full and generous tide of public feeling. No 
" North " or " South " bounded the interest felt in the 
national loss. Like grateful children at the grave of a 
wise and beloved parent, the United States wept over 
the tomb of him to whom under God they owed their 
existence, and the flag of Liberty, every where droop- 
ing at half-mast, was a true symbol of the public feel- 
ing of the hour. 

And can that solemn hour ever be forgotten? Can 
the feeling which thrilled our millions, under whatever 
skies, have passed away with the smoke of cannon and 
the echo of funeral eulogies that sought to give it utter- 
ance ? Did all this luxuriance of grief spring from no 
deep root of love and reverence in the nation's heart ? 

Forbid it, Heaven ! Forbid it, truth, wisdom, rev- 
erence, gratitude! The people who burst into spon- 
taneous tears for the loss of Washington, had hearts to 
appreciate him ; and to be able to appreciate him be- 
spoke qualities in some degree akin to his own. He 
was no melo-dramatic hero, no meteor of war, no flimsy 
popular idol fit for the worship of the vulgar. His char- 
acter, his career, his personal qualities, mark the race 
from which they sprang ;— grave, high-toned, generous, 
resolute, devoted ; and such alone must ever be his true 
admirers. The sincerity of the public mourning is a 
pledge of the future destiny of our country. The people 
who knew so well how to feel Washington's loss, are 



464: MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. [1799. 

not the people to forget his precepts or his character. 
The sentiments which actuated him, the principles by 
which he lived and died, are the palladium of our lib- 
erty, our prosperity, our very existence. We have a 
thousand times acknowledged that in abiding by them 
we are safe and happy, in forsaking or slighting them 
we renounce our strength, and give ourselves to be 
" the football of foreign nations." Whatever be the 
madness of the moment, whatever the tumult of passion 
or the folly of jealousy; however demagogues may 
play upon our weakness for their own selfish purposes, 
or timid hearts give way under the pressure of insolent 
egotism, — we are still the countrymen of Washington, 
and — let us fondly hope, the partakers of some portion, 
at least, of the magnanimous patience, — the divine self- 
control, — the heaven-born patriotism, that never failed 
him. Defeat, obloquy, provocation of every sort ; in- 
gratitude, " sharper than traitors' swords ; " — the revolt 
of friends, the loud triumph of invidious foes ; all these 
he bore and we can bear, for he has taught us. Keenly 
alive to disappointment, he had a sovereign contempt 
for that spirit of despair which is always a confession 
of impotence. Discouragements often beat him back, 
but it was only for one rallying moment. We, his 
children, have need to remember his example in this 
respect, and through all difficulties hold fast the glo- 
rious motto — "Never despair of the Republic ! " 



CIIAPTEK XL. 

Washington's opinions on slavery — His "Will and its provisions — His morals — His re- 
ligion — Testimony of various persons as to his habits of devotion. 

Washington was a slaveholder as he was a planter, by 
birth, education, and habit ; and he not only saw but 
felt — for he was a Southern man in his private feelings, 
— all the difficulties which must arise from the state of 
things between South and North. But the first duty 
and necessity of all his life was the acquisition of 
national independence, with the subsequent establish- 
ment of a wise and efficient government for the new- 
born and tottering nation. All other labors and duties 
were secondary to this, and afforded more than abund- 
ant occupation for him and other great and good men, 
who won that independence and established that gov- 
ernment for us. 

To men less wise and devoted, Slavery might, in- 
deed, have proved the apple of Atalanta, turning them 
aside from the great object, and so defeating all. Dif- 
ferences and disputes arose about it, and it required 
much firmness and much self-command, to hold the 
20* 



466 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

great point steadily in view, and put all else resolutely 
in the background for the time. 

That Washington, Jefferson and others of our Revo- 
lutionary forefathers, foresaw and dreaded the shape the 
question might ultimately assume, we gather from 
many expressions in their works. Mr. Jefferson in 
particular, expressed himself with great warmth, say- 
ing that the Almighty had no attribute which could 
take part with slavery, and that he trembled for his 
country when he reflected that God is just. Washing- 
ton expresses his sentiments with no less directness: 
" I never mean, unless some particular circumstances 
should compel me to it, to possess another slave by 
purchase ; it being among my first wishes to see some 
plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be 
abolished by law." In another letter he says : " I hope 
it will not be conceived from these observations," 
(with respect to the recapture of a runaway slave,) 
" that it is my wish to hold the unhappy people who 
are the subject of this letter, in slavery. I can only say 
there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely 
than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it ; 
but there is only one proper and effectual mode by 
which it can be accomplished, and that is by legisla- 
tive authority, and this, as far as my suffrage will go, 
shall never be wanting." 

And again, in enumerating the reasons why the 
price of land was higher in Pennsylvania than in Mary- 
land and Virginia, he mentions that in Pennsylvania 






WHAT HE THOUGHT OF SLAVERY. 467 

" there are laws for the gradual abolition of slavery, 
which neither of the two States above mentioned have 
at present, but which nothing is more certain than that 
they must have, and at a period not remote." 

Here, then, is the true key-note of Washington's 
mind on this subject. He thought slavery an evil so 
obvious, that he rested in the belief that the good sense 
and principle of the whole United States (for all were 
slaveholders then) must in time operate for its extinc- 
tion. He was not so romantic and unpractical as to 
think the great work could be done by a word, or that 
slavery could, by act of Congress, be swept away and 
forgotten. He knew it to be a business of great diffi- 
culty and delicacy ; but he had full confidence that the 
time was not far distant, when the same wisdom and 
virtue, the same love of liberty, and the same " proper 
respect for the opinion of mankind," which had dic- 
tated the Declaration of Independence, would, in due 
season, and under an equally solemn sense of responsi 
bility, prompt measures for the emancipation of the 
colored people, who had, by no choice of their own, 
become a part of our population. His opinion Avas no 
secret, and his views with regard to the disadvantages 
of slave labor are plainly to be gathered from his 
diaries; but he seems to have thought these things 
must be endured for a time, in order that the change, 
when it did take place, should be well-considered and 
wise in its provisions. 

If Washington had not had the armies of the United 



468 MEMOIES OF WASHINGTON. 

States to organize and lead to victory ; the government 
to settle and to administer; and the jarring interests 
and ever-springing jealousies of newly emancipated 
millions to reconcile and charm away by his personal 
influence, he might perhaps have found time to think 
of the condition of the slaves — comparatively a mere 
handful at that time ; but with all this business on his 
hands and heart, it is not to be wondered at that he 
left the cure of slavery to somebody else and some 
other day. 

But he made his own sentiments, on all occasions, 
" clear as the sun in his meridian brightness," to use 
one of his most favorite similes. 

Lafayette having purchased an estate in Cayenne, 
with the intention of freeing the slaves upon it, "Wash- 
ington wrote to him, u Your late purchase is a generous 
and noble proof of your humanity. "Would to God a 
like spirit might diffuse itself generally in the minds of 
the people of this country ! " 

An incident in his own family brought directly home 
to him the contradictory and rather ridiculous aspect 
which a slaveholding champion of liberty must present 
to the world. 

"When Mrs. "Washington's favorite maid, Oney, the 
woman who had long been her personal attendant, done 
her line sewing and prepared her caps — a nice matter 
of home clear-starching, quilling and frilling in those 
days — when this Oney ran away, and Mrs. "Washing- 
ton, missing her every moment and not knowing 



A KUN-AWAY. 469 

where to look for a substitute, desired the general to 
advertise, offering a reward for her, he wholly declined, 
with a laugh (and, we doubt not, a blush too), saying 
it would appear finely for him to be advertising a run- 
away slave ! 

This woman, Oney, went to one of the Eastern 
States, and called on a young lady who was intimate 
with General Washington's family, who had seen her 
a thousand times at her mistress's side, and who was, 
of course, exceedingly surprised to see her so far from 
home, knowing that she was indispensable to Mrs. 
Washington. 

" Why, Oney ! " said Miss L , " where in the 

world have you come from ? " 

" Come from New York, missis," said Oney. 

" But why did you come away — how can Mrs. 
Washington do without you \ " 

Oney hung her head at this, but after a moment re- 
plied — 

" Run away, missis." 

" Run away ! and from such an excellent place ! 
Why, what could induce you ? You had a room to 
yourself, and only light, nice work to do, and every in- 
dulgence — " 

« Yes— I know— but I wanted to be free, missis ; 
wanted to learn to read and write—" 

This was Oney's only motive ; and she remained in 
Maine, married and settled there, and was her own 
mistress ever after, though very probably with far 



470 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

harder work and poorer fare than had been her lot at 
the President's. 

This anecdote I had from the lips of the lady her- 
self, now living in the city of New York. 

It is well known that Washington never bequeathed 
a slave ; but in the drawing up of that admirable "Will, 
which, as he said, it occupied many of his leisure hours 
to digest, he carefully provided for the emancipation of 
all over whom he had any control. 

" Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and 
desire that all the slaves whom I hold in my own light 
shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them du- 
ring her life would, though earnestly wished by me, be 
attended with such insuperable difficulties, on account 
of their intermixture by marriage with the dower ne- 
groes, as to excite the most painful sensations, if not 
disagreeable consequences to the latter, while both de- 
scriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor, 
it not being in my power, under the tenure by which 
the dower negroes are held, to manumit them." (So 
that "Washington was only withheld by motives of kind- 
ness from manumitting his own slaves during his life- 
time.) " And whereas, among those who will receive 
freedom according to this devise, there may be some 
who, from old age or bodily infirmities, and others who, 
on account of their infancy, will be unable to support 
themselves, it is my will and desire that all who come 
under the first and second description, shall be comfort- 
ably clothed and fed by my heirs while they live ; and 
that such of the latter description as have no parents 
living, or, if living, unable or unwilling to provide for 



PROVISIONS OF THE WILL. 471 

them, shall be bound by the Court until they arrive at 
the age of twenty-five years. The negroes thus bound 
are," (by their masters or mistresses,) " to be taught to 
read and write, and to be brought up to some useful 
occupation. * * * * And I do hereby expressly 
forbid the sale or transportation out of the Common- 
wealth, of any slave I may die possessed of, under any 
pretence whatsoever. And I do, moreover, most point- 
edly and most solemnly enjoin it upon my executors 
hereafter named, or the survivors of them, to see that 
this clause respecting slaves, and every part thereof, 
be religiously fulfilled, at the epoch at which it is di- 
rected to take place, without evasion, neglect or delay, 
after the crops which may then be on the ground are 
harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and in- 
firm ; seeing that a regular and permanent fund be es- 
tablished for their support, as long as there are subjects 
requiring it ; not trusting to the uncertain provision to 
be made by individuals." 

It is plain from these extracts that Washington con- 
sidered it advisable to intrust the negro with freedom, 
and held the opinion that emancipation might be ac- 
complished without injury to the State. He saw the 
cruelty of transporting a creature so homeloving to dis- 
tant parts, from a notion of public or private conveni- 
ence, and expressly forbids his executors from attempt- 
ing it in any case ; although he had once, himself, in a 
sort of desperation, probably after many warnings, sent 
off an incorrigible fellow to the West Indies to be sold, 
saying that he could recommend him as the greatest 
rogue extant. This was done when he was much 



472 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

younger and more impetuous than when he made his 
will, which is dated July, 1T99. 

On the whole, the testimony of "Washington against 
slavery is clear and explicit enough, and no one can 
quote him as its apologist, although we may regret that 
he had not time to turn his attention more decidedly 
and efficiently towards its abolition. 

The private morals of heroes are often such as the 
grateful admirers of their public services are fain to 
pass by in silence ; but the strictness of Washington's 
views was amply justified by his life. Mr. Jefferson 
remarks of him — " His public and private ethics were 
the same." He was no metaphysician, and theorized 
but little on abstruse points. His code was short and 
simple, and his requisitions under it direct and author- 
itative. It is probable that a large part of his reflections, 
from an early age, touched on the distinction between 
right and wrong, and no human being can point out a 
case in which he evidently chose the wrong and did it 
intentionally. It is certain that the sense of having clone 
right was his reward, his consolation, his incessant stim- 
ulus to labors and sacrifices such as few men have un- 
dertaken or endured. He often alludes to the golden 
rule, and acknowledges its authority. When he felt 
obliged to act with severity, it was always with a cer- 
tain apology, which reminds the reader that these cases 
were exceptions, and very trying to his feelings, though 
he went through them resolutely. The strictness of his 
judgment was always modified by a sense of his own 



PROMPT TO FORGIVE. 473 

participation in human weakness and frailty. He never 
assumes the air of a superior being. He never seems 
to set himself on any great eminence of virtue, to main- 
tain which position might sometimes tempt him to hy- 
pocrisy ; but talks and acts with a frank, manly confes- 
sion of fallibility, very often expressed in words and still 
oftener tacitly implied. "When he was angry he was 
very angry ; but if he was ever momentarily unjust, his 
apology and atonement were as prompt and honest 
as ever came from the heart of ingennons youth. 
"Wounded by his friends, as it was sometimes his lot to 
be, his placability was touchkigly beautiful, and every 
remnant of suspicion fled with the grasp of reconcili- 
ation. Tried severely in certain cases by the young 
people of his wife's family as well as those of his own, 
his patience was as striking as his firmness ; and if he 
never countenanced wrong, he never, on the other hand, 
forgot consideration for youth. Closely allied by social 
and family ties with great numbers of people, most of 
whom wanted something of him, no instance can be 
found where he repelled a request, or failed to meet the 
demands of friendship or of need with his best endeavors 
at service. 

There has been a strange idea, encouraged perhaps 
by those who would fain have it true, that Washington 
though a highly moral was not a religious man. How 
this conclusion coukl be honestly come to it is difficult 
to see. Acknowledging him to have been a truthful 
person, what can we think of his continual reference to 



474 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

the Almighty ruler of human events, whose care and 
goodness he never failed to recognize both in public 
and private ? He speaks of God as aiding all efforts on 
the right side, and evidently considers himself as co- 
operating with the Divine will in laboring for the in- 
dependence of his country. The habit of his mind was 
to connect the affairs of this world directly and inti- 
mately with the character of the Divine government, 
and to see, in the course of human events, the insepara- 
ble union between goodness and happiness, as the im- 
mediate interposition of the Almighty ruler. 

But, says the sectarist r " all this is only natural re- 
ligion, the mere instinctive impression upon the mind 
of a man of sense, that there must be a God,' — that He 
must be concerned in human affairs, and that his power 
of punishing infractions of the law of Conscience is 
sufficient reason for endeavoring to obey that law." 

It would indeed be a glorious testimony to the 
power and efficacy of natural religion, if we could 
prove that such a character as that of Washington grew 
up and was maintained, in its marvellous consistency, 
by its sole aid. But fine natural powers and healthy 
intellectual convictions, precious though their union 
be, never made a George Washington. 

And what shall we say of such an expression as 
this, in speaking of a particular course of conduct — 
" It would certainly be more in accordance with the 
precepts of the Divine Founder of our religion" 

The care with which Washington expressed himselt 



WAS WASHINGTON A CHRISTIAN? 475 

on all occasions mates an expression like this conclu- 
sive, if there were nothing else to mark him a Chris- 
tian. That some people should wish to make it appear 
that Washington was not a religious man, is only one 
of many proofs that men love to detract from a repu- 
tation of transcendent merit, and to throw a cloud over 
glory too bright to be endured by the evil eye. There 
may perhaps be another explanation of these efforts — 
the narrowness of sectarianism, which feels bound to 
acknowledge no religion that does not come within its 
own pale. It would seem that one or the other of 
these motives must have operated as the inducement 
in raising a doubt as to the deep religiousness — the 
anxious sense of responsibility to God, and the habit- 
ual devotion, of "Washington. It requires very little 
experience or observation to discover that a character 
like his can be built on no other foundation than that 
of religious principle. Only the blindness of vain and 
shallow infidelity fails to perceive this truth ; only envy 
or the bitter venom of party spirit can deny its appli- 
cability in Washington's case. 

But look at direct testimony on this point, and first, 
Washington's own. 

In his circular letter to the governors of the sev- 
eral States, on the disbanding of the army, in 1783, lie 
says : — 

" The free cultivation of letters, the unbounded ex- 
tension of commerce, the progressive refinement ol 
manners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and, 



476 MEM0IK8 OF WASHINGTON. 

above all, the pure and benign light of Revelation, 
have had a meliorating influence on mankind, and in- 
creased the blessings of society. 

" I now make my earnest prayer that God would 
have you and the State over which you preside, in his 
holy protection ; that he would incline the hearts of 
the citizens to cultivate the spirit of subordination and 
obedience to government ; to entertain a brotherly af- 
fection and love for one another, for their fellow-citi- 
zens of the United States at large, and particularly for 
their brethren who have served in the field ; and 
finally, that he would be most graciously pleased to 
dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to de- 
mean ourselves with that charity, humility and pacific 
temper of mind, which were the characteristics of the 
Divine Author of our blessed religion, without an 
humble imitation of whose example we can never hope 
to be a happy nation." 

Mr. Sparks remarks : — " Of all men in the world, 
Washington was certainly the last whom any one would 
charge with dissimulation or indirectness ; and if he 
was so scrupulous in avoiding even a shadow of these 
faults in every known act of his life, however unim- 
portant, is it likely, is it credible, that, in a matter of 
the most serious importance, he should practise, through 
a long series of years, a deliberate deception upon his 
friends and the public ? " 

A lady who had lived twenty years in his family, 
Mrs. "Washington's grand-daughter and the adopted 



HABITS OF PRAYER. 477 

daughter of Washington, says, in a letter to Mr. Sparks, 
after describing his habits of morning and evening re- 
tirement — " I never witnessed his private devotions, I 
never inquired about them. I should have thought it 
the greatest heresy to doubt his firm belief in Chris- 
tianity. His life, his writings, prove that he was a 
Christian. He was not one of those who act or pray 
' that they may be seen of men.' He communed with 
his God in secret. My mother resided two years at 
Mount Vernon after her marriage. I have heard her 
say that General Washington always received the sa- 
crament with my grandmother before the Revolution." 

Mr. Robert Lewis, the son of General Washington's 
sister, was private secretary during the first presidency, 
lived with him on intimate terms, and had opportuni- 
ties to observe his private habits. He told Mr. Sparks 
he had accidentally witnessed Washington's private 
devotions in his library both morning and evening ; 
that on these occasions he had seen him in a kneeling 
posture, with a Bible open before him ; and that he be- 
lieved such to have been his daily practice. 

A well-known incident of the Revolution may prop- 
erly be cited in this connection : — 

While the American army, under the command of 
Washington, lay encamped in the environs of Morris- 
town, New Jersey, it occurred that the service of the 
communion, then observed semi-annually only, was to 
be administered in the Presbyterian church of that vil- 
lage, or rather in a grove or orchard near the church, 



478 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

the building not being large enough, to accommodate 
the numbers collected on such occasions. On a morn- 
ing of the previous week the general called on the Rev. 
Dr. Johns, then pastor of that chinch, and after the 
usual civilities, thus accosted him : — "Doctor, I under- 
stand that the communion is to be celebrated with you 
next Sunday. I would learn if it accords with the 
canons of your church to admit communicants of 
another denomination ? " 

The doctor rejoined, " Most certainly ! Ours is 
not the Presbyterian table, general, but the Lord's ta- 
ble ; and hence we give the Lord's invitation to all his 
followers, of whatever name." 

The general rejxlied, " I am glad of it ; that is as it 
ought to be ; but as I was not quite sure of the fact, I 
thought I would ascertain it from yourself, as I propose 
to join with you on that occasion. Though I am a 
member of the church of England, I have no exclusive 
partialities." 

The doctor reassured him of a cordial welcome, and 
the general was found seated with the communicants 
the next Sabbath. 

The Rev. D. D. Field mentioned to me the follow- 
ing :— 

" Mrs. Watkins, a daughter of Governor Living- 
ston, being at my house in Stockbridge, some twenty 
years since, perhaps more, said that when she was a 
girl, General Washington lived four months at her fa- 
ther's during the Revolution, and that she had been by 



WASHINGTON AN EPISCOPALIAN. 479 

the side of his room and heard him at prayer. My 
impression is that she did this repeatedly. She said 
that his room was in a distant part of the building, and 
that she had to pass through several rooms to get by 
the side of the general's, room. She stated that her 
sisters used to go with her and listen, and that their 
father, learning what they were doing, checked them for 
it. Governor Livingston's house is now in a good state 
of repair, owned by Mr. John Kane. The house is 
large and has two wings. One of the wings has been 
raised, the other, in which "Washington roomed, is in 
form as when he dwelt in it, though a room back of it 
and attached to it, where the girls listened, has been 
removed." 

One more testimony from a living witness, Mr. 
Cornelius Doremus, before mentioned as a boy fond 
of waiting on Washington, who lived for a winter at 
his father's house. The old gentleman states that his 
bedchamber was directly over that of the commander- 
in-chief, and that he often distinctly heard the sound 
of that deep and earnest voice in private devotion. 

Washington was educated as an Episcopalian, and 
throughout his life adhered to that denomination of 
Christians, satisfied with its doctrine, and if not disin- 
clined by nature, yet too much occupied by laborious 
duty, to enter into any speculation upon theological 
points. His position from the time of his first com- 
mand, made it improper for him to become the parti- 
san or even the favorer of any particular form of Chris- 



4S0 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

tianity ; yet he was ever the friend and advocate of re- 
ligion, and in no negligent or formal spirit the guar- 
dian of its interests. His total freedom from sectarian 
prejudices is proved by the esteem in which he was 
held by the ministers as well as members of the differ- 
ent denominations. An anecdote communicated to me 
by a friend touches this point : — 

" General Washington, although never lavish in his 
professions of regard to others, probably inspired as 
much depth if not as much warmth of attachment, as 
any man who ever lived. Those who went through 
the Revolutionary service in associations more or less 
intimate with him, received an impress from his supe- 
rior nature, much in proportion to their opportunities 
of intimate and mutual converse. Some who were but 
little addicted to man-worship, in regard to others, re- 
tained and cherished through life almost an idolatrous 
reverence for the name of Washington. His memory 
was with them the charm to conjure up, in after years, 
the true ' spirit of '76.' 

" The Rev. Israel Evans (an uncle of mine, by way 
of marriage with my father's sister) was a chaplain in 
the United States army through nearly the entire Rev- 
olutionary service. He was a native of New Jersey, a 
man of education, and capable of appreciating such a 
character as that of Washington. The opportunities 
he enjoyed for social intercourse with him, as well as 
with other patriots of the Revolution, were very fre- 



WISH OF THE DYING MAN. 481 

quent and favorable, and his reverence for Washington 
was very great. 

"It is related of Mr. Evans, that, during his last 
sickness, thirty years or more after the Eevolution, his 
successor in the ministry, in the New England village 
where he had been settled, was called in by the family 
to pray with him, in the evident near approach of the 
dying hour. Mr. Evans had lain some considerable 
time in a stupor, apparently unconscious of any thing 
around him, and his brother clergyman was proceeding 
in a fervent prayer to God, that, as his servant was ev- 
idently about departing this mortal life, his spirit might 
be conveyed by angels to Abraham's bosom. Just at 
this point, the dying man for the first time and for the 
moment revived, so far as to utter, in an interval of his 
delirium, ' and Washington's, too ' — and then sunk 
again into apparent unconsciousness. As if it was not 
enough to ' have Abraham to his father,' and on whose 
bosom to repose, but he must have Washington too, on 
whom to lean. A signal manifestation of ' the ruling 
passion strong in death '—and of the lasting hold which 
that great man had on the mind and heart of one of 
his early and devoted friends." 

But Washington's religiousness really needs no 
argument. The idea that such virtue could be based 
upon any thing but true religion is so pernicious a 
heresy, that it seems necessary to assure and reas- 
sure youthful readers that Washington was no instance 
21 



482 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

to te quoted in its favor. Let us now turn, in a few 
concluding words, to his general characteristics. 

• As to his personal bearing, so much has been 
said that we need add nothing of ours. A few lines 
from the letters of Fisher Ames give a fine idea of the 
impression left by his public appearance : — 

" Impression of Washington. — I was present in the 
pew with the President, and must assure you that af- 
ter making all deductions for the delusions of one's 
fancy in regard to characters, I still think of him with 
more veneration than for any other person. Time lias 
made havoc upon his face.- That and many other cir- 
cumstances not to be reasoned about, conspire to keep 
up the awe which I brought with me. He addressed 
the two Houses in the Senate Chamber ; it was a very 
solemn scene, and quite of the touching kind. His as- 
pect, grave, almost to sadness ; his modesty, actually 
shaking. His voice deep, a little tremulous, and so 
low as to call for close attention, added to the series of 
objects presented to the mind and overwhelming it, 
produced emotions of the most affecting kind upon the 
members. It seemed to me an allegory in which vir- 
tue was personified, and addressing those whom she 
would make her votaries. Her power over the heart 
was never greater, and the illustration of her doctrine 
by her own example was never more perfect." 



ASPECT OF WASHINGTON-. 483 

One still living, who when a child saw him often, 
thus remembers him : — * 

" ' First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of 
his countrymen, 5 he was, is, and ever will remain. It 
is something, it is much, and it will he more, even to 
have seen him. Those who have, will say with one 
voice that they never saw any thing like him. Prob- 
ably there never was a human being who ever departed 
from his presence without having this conviction deep 
upon his mind. A lady who lived opposite his lodg- 
ings all the time he resided in Philadelphia, told a 
friend, that General Washington never came into or 
out of his house that she did not remain at the win- 
dow, with her eyes fixed upon him so long as he re- 
mained in sight. It was a feeling that did not wear 
out. See him as often as you might, it continued and 
even increased. There are some wonders of art, stat- 
ues and paintings (they are but few), which exert a 
sort of infatuation upon the spectator, so that he gazes 
on them long, and still wants another look : — here was 
a wonder of nature, a work of God, — which, like Ni- 
agara, like Mont Blanc, like the rainbow, like the 
aurora, filled at once the mental and the physical eye, 
and fixed it long. As the eagle sits alone upon her 
eyrie, as the lion walks alone in the desert, so was 
Washington among men. He stands alone in history ; 
he never will know a compeer. 

* In the National Intelligencer. 



484 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

As to his personal APPEAKENCE. — " Gilbert Stuart, 
whose painting of him has immortalized not his subject 
but himself, and who, as one long familiar with the 
human countenance, is eminently fit to speak on such a 
subject, often said that the head and face of Washington 
were unlike those of any other human being that ever 
had come under his observation. There was a breadth 
about the base of the nose, anjj a largeness and pecu- 
liar form of the sockets of the eyes, which distinguished 
the face from all others. It is not generally known, 
but it is nevertheless true, that there was a slight de- 
fect about the eye ; the eyelid did not rise entirely to 
its place. This communicated that peculiar downcast 
look which distinguished the eye of Washington, giv- 
ing it an air of thought, of modest reserve, of compo- 
sure almost approaching to heaviness, which one who 
saw him never can forget. It affected the carriage and 
motion of his head, occasioning him to raise it when 
looking up upon a stranger approaching him, more 
than would have been necessary or natural had the 
eyelid been entirely free. Yet so slight was the cause, 
that by most persons the effect only was noticed. Stu- 
art failed to catch this expression, but Peale has pre- 
served it with admirable fidelity in the portrait which 
hangs in the Senate chamber at Washington. When 
he was reading, or writing, you could not perceive it ; 
when he was speaking, it gave modesty, gravity, and 
dignity to his expression ; under strong excitement, as 



ENTERING PHILADELPHIA. 485 

in the heat of battle, it vanished, and his eyes shone 
like stars. 

" Nothing can exceed the perfect truth to nature of 
the figure and carriage of the person, as given in Lord 
Lansdowne's inimitable picture, and which Heath has 
•with equal truth and felicity transferred to copper. 
The moulding of his limbs, his step and bearing, were 
as peculiar and as readily recognized as those of Na- 
poleon. His tread was measured and heavy, carrying 
in its sound dignity and command. He was born a 
monarch, in the highest and best sense of the term. 
The noble soul within looked out from a body as noble 
as itself ; and no man who ever stood in the presence 
of either, thought or felt himself a great man. The 
awe of his presence fell alike on all men. 

" My own first sight of him seems like a remote 
vision ; it was only from a distance and in my early 
childhood. I had been walking up Market street 
(then not more than half its present length), when I 
saw approaching from the South a great cavalcade, at- 
tended and surrounded by floods of people, all whose 
looks seemed to be bent on one object. On a dark sor- 
rel horse, which he rode with military grace and ease, 
was an officer of large size, wearing the triangular 
cocked hat which appears in all paintings of the battle 
scenes of the Revolution, and attended on either hand 
by officers of his staff. They were all so heavily 
loaded with dust as to be entirely of one color. Ha!<, 
coats, boots, hands, saddles, holsters, horses, seemed all 



486 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

of one uniform drab, as if they had been riding for 
hours along a highway without stopping to remove the 
dust as it accumulated upon them. They told me that 
was General Washington ; and I afterwards heard my 
father read from the papers of the clay, an account of 
his having been crowned, as he passed the bridge at 
Gray's Ferry, with a chaplet of flowers, and greeted 
by a band of beautiful young ladies, chanting a song 
of welcome to the hero who had closed the eventful 
struggle for freedom by the then recent victory of York- 
town. I was too far off to recognize his features ; but 
the mounted figure is even now distinctly before my 
mind's eye ; and I instantly recognized it again when I 
saw, for the first time, Trumbull's picture of the Sur- 
render at Yorktown, that now occupies one of the pan- 
els in the rotunda of the Capitol. The Washington 
there drawn, is precisely what I saw coming into the 
city by the road from Gray's Ferry. 

" Washington at Church. — My next view of him 
was a nearer and more distinct one — it was as a wor- 
shipper. My parents, who were Episcopalians, had a 
front pew in the gallery of Christ's Church, in Phila- 
delphia ; and from that favorable post of observation 
I noticed, in the middle aisle, a pew lined with crimson 
velvet fringed with gold, into which I saw a highly 
dignified gentleman enter, accompanied by two others, 
younger than himself, and most respectful in their de- 
portment towards him. These as I have since learned, 



DEPORTMENT AT CHURCH. 487 

were members of his military family. I was but a 
young boy, and the impression, as I well remember, on 
my youthful mind was, that I had never seen so grand 
a gentleman before. Every body else seemed to be of 
the same mind ; for I do not consider it a slander on 
the very respectable congregation worshipping in that 
church, to say that far more looks were fixed upon 
that pew than on the pulpit (unless, indeed, it hap- 
pened to be occupied by that most excellent and ven- 
erable of prelates, Bishop White). The deportment of 
Washington was reverent and attentive ; his eyes, when 
not on the prayer-book, were on the officiating clergy- 
man, and no witless or irreverent worshipper could 
plead Washington's example. I have since been in 
the church at Alexandria, in Virginia, which was his 
parish church — have handled the prayer-book he used, 
and seen his well known autograph in front of his Bi- 
ble ; and here the same impression existed as to his 
regular and exemplary attendance and demeanor. He 
could not always be present in the church at Philadel- 
phia, in the afternoon, being pressed by the exigency 
of public affairs, which, in the mind of Washington, 
were ever held to be matters of necessity. Hence he 
gave orders, that in case certain important despatches 
were received during his attendance in church, they 
should be brought to him there ; and I have seen them 
delivered into his hands. He opened them imme- 
diately, and deliberately and attentively read them 
through ; then laying them on the seat by his side, he 



488 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

resumed his prayer-book, and, apparently, gave his 
mind to the solemnities of the place and the hour. 

" I once had an opportunity of beholding this great- 
est of men, under circumstances the best possible for 
exhibiting him to the fullest advantage. It was a priv- 
ilege which could happen but once to any one ; and I 
esteem the hour when I enjoyed it, as one of the bright- 
est moments I was ever permitted to know. Its re- 
membrance yet glows vividly on my mind : years have 
not dimmed it : the whole scene is yet before me, and 
I need not say with what force repeated public occa- 
sions of a like kind have since recalled it to remem- 
brance. Yes, it was my favored lot to see and hear 
President "Washington address the Congress of the 
United States when elected for the last time. — Of men 
now living, how few can say the same. 

" I was but a schoolboy at the time, and had fol- 
lowed one of the many groups of people who, from all 
quarters, were making their way to the Hall in Chestnut 
street at the corner of Fifth, where the two Houses of 
Congress then held their sittings, and where they were 
that day to be addressed by the President, on the open- 
ing of his second term of office. Boys can often manage 
to work their way through a crowd better than men 
can ; at all events, it so happened that I succeeded in 
reaching the steps of the Hall, from which elevation, 
looking in every direction, I could see nothing but hu- 
man heads : a vast fluctuating sea, swaying to and fro, 
and filling every accessible place which commanded 



THE SECOND INAUGURAL. 489 

even a distant view of the building. They had con- 
gregated, not with the hope of getting into the Hall, 
for that was physically impossible, but that they might 
see Washington. Many an anxious look was cast in 
the direction from which he was expected to come, till 
at length, true to the appointed hour (he was the most 
punctual of men), an agitation was observable on the 
outskirts of the crowd, which gradually opened and 
gave space for the approach of an elegant white coach, 
drawn by six superb white horses, having on its four 
sides, beautiful designs of the four seasons, painted by 
Cipriani. It slowly made its way, till it drew up im- 
mediately in front of the Hall. The rush was now tre- 
mendous. But as the coach-door opened, there issued 
from it two gentlemen with long white wands, who, 
with some difficulty, parted the people so as to open a 
passage from the carriage to the steps on which the 
fortunate schoolboy had achieved a footing, and whence 
the whole proceeding could be distinctly seen. As the 
person of the President emerged from the carriage, a 
universal shout rent the air, and continued, as he very 
deliberately ascended the steps. On reaching the plat- 
form, he paused, looking back on the carriage, thus af- 
fording to the anxiety of the people the indulgence 
they desired, of feasting their eyes upon his person. 
Never did a more majestic personage present himself 
to the public gaze. He was within two feet of me : I 
could have touched his clothes : but I should as soon 
have thought of touching an electric battery. Boy as 
21* 



490 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

1 was, I felt as in the presence of a divinity. As he 
turned to enter the Hall, the gentlemen with the white 
wands preceded him, and with still greater difficulty 
than before, repressed the people, and cleared a way 
to the great staircase. As he ascended I ascended with 
him, step by step, creeping close to the wall, and al- 
most hidden by the shirts of his coat. Nobody looked 
at me : every body was looking at him ; and thus I 
was permitted, unnoticed, to glide along, and happily 
to make my way (where so many were vainly longing, 
and struggling to enter) into the lobby of the chamber 
of the House of Representatives. Once in, I was safe ; 
for had I even been seen by the officers in attendance, 
it would have been impossible to get me out again. I 
saw near me a large pyramidal stove, which, fortu- 
nately, had but little fire in it, and on which I forth- 
with clambered, until I had attained a secure perch, 
from which every part of the Hall could be deliberately 
and distinctly surveyed. Depend upon it,' I made use 
of my eyes. 

" On either side of the broad aisle that was left va- 
cant in the centre, were assembled the two Houses of 
Congress. As the President entered, all rose, and re- 
mained standing till he had ascended the steps at the 
upper end of the chamber, and taken his seat in the 
Speaker's chair. It was an impressive moment. Not- 
withstanding that the spacious apartment, floor, lobby, 
galleries and all approaches, were crowded to their ut- 
most capacity, not a sound was heard ; the silence of 



APPEARANCE IN CONGRESS. 491 

expectation was unbroken and profound ; every breath 
seemed suspended. He was dressed in a full suit of 
the richest black velvet ; his lower limbs in short- 
clothes with diamond knee-buckles, and black silk 
stockings. His shoes, which were brightly japanned, 
were surmounted with large square silver buckles. 
His hair, carefully displayed in the manner of the day, 
was fully powdered, and gathered behind into a black 
silk bag, on which was a bow of black ribbon. In his 
hand he carried a plain cocked hat, decorated with the 
American cockade. He wore by his side a light, slen- 
der dress sword, in a dark shagreen scabbard, with a 
richly ornamented hilt. His gait was deliberate, his 
manner solemn but self-possessed, and he presented, 
altogether, the most august human figure I had then, 
or have since beheld. 

" Having retained his seat for a few moments, while 
the members resumed their seats, the President rose, 
and taking from his breast a roll of manuscript, pro- 
ceeded to read his address. His voice was full and so- 
norous, deep and rich in its tones, free from that trum- 
pet ring which it could assume amid the tumult of bat- 
tle (and which is said to have been distinctly heard 
above all its roar), but sufficiently loud and clear to fill 
the chamber, and be heard, witli perfect ease, in its 
most remote recesses. The address was of considerable 
length ; its topics, of course, I forget, for I was too young 
to understand them ; I only remember, in its latter 
part, some reference to the Wabash Eiver (then a new 



492 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

name to my ear), and to claims or disputes on the part 
of the Indian tribes. He read, as he did every thing 
else, with a singular sincerity and composure, with 
manly ease and dignity, but without the smallest at- 
tempt at display. 

" Having concluded, he laid the manuscript upon 
the table before him, and resumed his seat ; when, after 
a slight pause he rose and withdrew, the members ris- 
ing and remaining on their feet until he left the cham- 
ber. 

" The paper was then taken up by Mr. Beckley, the 
clerk of the House, and again read from beginning to 
end. Beckley's enunciation, by the by, was admirably 
clear, giving every syllable of every word, and, I may 
say, he was almost the only officer whose official duty 
it is to read, whom I ever heard read well. 

" This form having been gone through, the mem- 
bers of the Senate retired, and I took advantage of the 
bustle to descend from my unwonted and presumptuous 
elevation, and mingle with the dissolving crowd." 

So great was the general reverence expressed for 
Washington, that a little boy walking with his father 
in the streets of Philadelphia, and meeting the general, 
exclaimed — u Why, father ! General Washington is 
only a man, after all ! " Washington looked at him 
thoughtfully, and said — " That's all, my little fellow, 
that's all ! " 

Mr. Matthew Carey, well known as an enterprising 



PERSONAL DIGNITY. 493 

publisher in Philadelphia, had occasion once, during 
Washington's presidency, to call on him with reference 
to the printing of public documents, or some other 
matter connected with the press. He was received 
with great politeness, and his business affairs easily 
concluded ; but he observed on coming out of the room 
where he had been speaking with the President, that 
streams of perspiration were coursing down his face, 
quite irrespective of the temperature of the day, and 
only indicative of the awe which Washington had been 
able to inspire in the mind of one not unaccustomed to 
contact with great men. 

Gouverneur Morris once accepted a bet that he 
would approach Washington familiarly, and clap him 
on the shoulder. He did it, and won his bet ; but the 
look with which Washington reproved the impertinence 
was quite enough to make him sorry for it. 

" When Washington had his quarters near New- 
burgh, he was frequently occupied in writing those im- 
mortal letters to Congress, in which it is hard to say 
whether the patriot, the general, the statesman, or the 
father of the American army, shines the most illus- 
triously, and which, of themselves, would be enough to 
confer immortality upon their author ; and he gave a 
general order that at such times he was not to be dis- 
turbed or spoken to, unless under the most urgent ne- 
cessity. A militia officer, of no particular rank or 
standing, came, one day, into the ante-room, and asked 
to see the commander-in-chief. Colonel Trumbull, the 



494 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

aide-de-camp who was on duty, informed him that the 
general was not to be seen ; but politely requested the 
officer to intrust with him his business. The officer 
(never having seen Washington) little knowing with 
whom he had to deal, and very proud of the opportu- 
nity of having a personal interview, treated this inti- 
mation with hauteur, and demanded to see General 
"Washington himself, with whom, he said, he had im- 
portant business. Colonel Trumbull stated the positive 
orders that had been given, and said that if he went to 
the general's private room the consequences must be 
upon the officer alone. " Oh, certainly," said he, smil- 
ing, " I'll bear all the consequences." The aid slowly 
and reluctantly approached the chamber, and gently 
knocked. " Who's there ? " answered a deep voice 
within, in those tones which none heard without dread. 
Colonel Trumbull stated the case, and said that though 
repeatedly warned of the orders, the officer insisted on 
seeing him. " Does he ? " and at the same time the 
warlike tread was heard, the door suddenly opened, 
and Washington came forth. " I thought," said Trum- 
bull, when relating to me the anecdote, " I thought he 
would have walked over him." " Well, sir, what is 
your business with me ? " The officer, with widely al- 
tered tone and manner, stammered out some petty 
question relating to the etiquette of camp duty, in 
which he had differed with a fellow officer, and which 
he wished to have decided by the commander-in-chief. 
Washington had never taken his eyes off of him ; and 



GRAVE POLITENESS. 495 

when lie was clone, replied, "Ask that question of your 
orderly sergeant," and turned into his chamber. Trum- 
bull said he never in his life saw a human creature so 
completely thunderstruck. He never appeared again 
at head-quarters. 

Yet, it must not be understood from these instances, 
that there was the least want of courtesy in his general 
manner ; the reverse is true : he was truly and uni- 
formly polite ; but it was a grave politeness, infinitely 
removed from that heartless artificial polish which is 
acquired by frivolous minds, from long converse with 
the world. There was a simplicity, and even a severe 
dignity about it, which was inherent in the man, and 
which never left him. In the cases I have mentioned, 
he was rudely trespassed on ; and no man could trifle 
with Washington." 

Formality was certainly the order of those days. 
A gentleman now living in Philadelphia says that when 
he used to be playing with young Custis till dinner 
time, he was sometimes invited by the boy to go home 
with him to dinner. He was very kindly received, 
Mrs. Washington asking after his mamma, and the 
general patting him on the head, with a few pleasant 
words. But when they came to sit down to dinner the 
stiffness was awful ; the secretaries offering dishes to 
the President— "Will your Excellency have a pota- 
to ? " etc., and hardly another word spoken. 

This must have been in very perplexing and sober 
times : for Washington at Mount Vernon was, as we 



496 MEMOIRS OF "WASHINGTON. 

have seen, no such terrific person. Many such little 
incidents as this are remembered of him : — 

At Mamaroneck reconnoitring with his aids one 
morning early, he was passing a house in the door-yard 
of which a boy was trying very hard to split a large 
log, but not making much progress. Washington ob- 
serving the process, stopped and said to the boy : " Put 
your wedge in at the other end, and you can do it." 
The boy complied, and the log gave way. " There," 
said the general, " remember that General Washington 
taught you how to split wood." The "boy" is still 
living to remember the lesson. 

When Gilbert Stuart first painted Washington in 
1796, the chief used to take the beautiful Harriet Chew, 
afterwards Mrs. Charles Carroll, with him, saying that 
" her conversation ought to give his face its most agree- 
able expression." 

Mr. Noah Webster, author of the Dictionary, once 
dined or took breakfast with him, and related that 
upon Washington's offering him a choice of molasses 
or sugar with something on the table, he replied, jo- 
kingly, that he would take sugar, for Yankees ate 
" plenty of molasses at home." Upon this Washing- 
ton burst into a hearty laugh, saying interrogatively, 
" There is no truth, I am sure, in the story of your eat- 
ing molasses with pork ? " 

A good many scintillations of mirthfulness break 
out in Washington's letters of friendship ; and here is 



KELISH OF A JOKE. 497 

a story which, coming pretty well authenticated, must 
be accepted as a proof that he enjoyed a joke :— 

" Two gentlemen set out together to pay a solemn 
state visit at Mount Vernon. They had a good way to 
go, and as they did not wish to appear before their host 
and hostess travel-worn and dusty, but rather in a state 
of distinguished elegance, they took with them in a 
portmanteau the apparatus and appurtenances of a lux- 
urious toilette. They passed the night at a tavern on 
the road, where they enjoyed the company of a ped- 
lar. The next day they shouldered their budget and 
jogged on again, until they reached a charming shady 
lonely wood near the place of their destination, when, 
agreeing that this was exactly the spot which they 
wanted for their tiring-room, they removed part of their 
clothing, and opened their pack for their bands, frills, 
silk stockings, and knee-buckles, when out of it tum- 
bled a quantity of brass thimbles, tape, and sugar- 
plums, as if Signor Blitz had carried it for them. In a 
word, they had unwittingly changed bags with the ped- 
lar. Washington happened to be walking in his grounds 
not far off. Their shouts of laughter brought him to 
the scene of their discomfiture ; and when he perceived 
their plight and the reason of it, he was thrown into 
such an ecstasy of amusement that he actually rolled 
on the ground." 

Washington was always disposed to encourage in- 
nocent amusements, and evidently considered occasions 
of complete unbending as among the necessaries of life, 



49 S MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

even to himself. There were, it is true, long seasons 
of such stern, ceaseless devotion to duty, that he men- 
tions, even to the President of Congress, being obliged 
to take the hours that should be devoted to sleep for 
business writing. But he could not but notice that 
these seasons were apt to be followed, in his own case, 
with severe illness, and we have no reason to think that 
he wilfully pursued even duty beyond the point of 
health and cheerful spirits. The French officers whom 
he received so kindly to his house and table, had a 
great deal to say about his manners at home, and they 
always represented him very kind and genial. The 
Marquis de Chastellux speaks of his loving to sit over 
the nuts and apples for hours in the evening, convers- 
ing and giving " sentiments" — an old-fashioned kind of 
toast. 

Chastellux's descriptions are enthusiastic and very 
graphic. He was particularly enchanted with "Wash- 
ington's bold and elegant riding. He says the general 
used to break his own horses, a business which he un- 
derstood perfectly. The State of Virginia sent him a 
present of two horses which he delighted to ride. The 
Marquis once saw him, when caught in a shower of 
rain, put his horse to the gallop and leap high fences to 
regain his quarters, which he did in splendid style, 
" sans se guindre sur les etriers," to the gay French- 
man's great delight. 

Chastellux says, " The goodness and kindness which 
characterize him are felt by all about him ■ but the 



DISINTERESTEDNESS. 499 

confidence which he inspires is never familiar, because 
it is in every case founded on the same basis — a pro- 
found esteem for his virtues and a great opinion of his 
talents." 

" Washington," says M. Guizot, " loved Lafayette 
with a paternal tenderness, of which his life bears no 
other example. * * * That accomplished and 
chivalrous young nobleman, who left the court of Ver- 
sailles to bear his sword and his fortune to the planters 
of America, singularly pleased the grave general of the 
Republican army. He viewed that event as a tribute 
paid by the nobility of the Old World to the cause and 
to him — he regarded it as a link between himself and 
the brilliant, the witty, the celebrated society of France. 
In the modesty of his greatness he was at once flat- 
tered and touched by M. de Lafayette's arrival, and his 
thoughts were wont to dwell with emotions of peculiar 
fondness upon his youthful friend, so unlike any other 
friend of his whole life, and one who had left all to 
serve beside him." 

A London paper of 1784 mentions with a sort of en- 
thusiasm the disinterestedness of Washington :— 

"There are few," says the writer, " so blinded by 
prejudice as to deny such a degree of merit in the 
American general, as to place him in a very distin- 
guished point of view; but even those who have been 
accustomed to view him as the most illustrious charac- 
ter ot this or any other age, will be astonished at the 
following instance of his integrity. When General 



500 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

Washington accepted the command of the American 
army, he rejected all pecuniary reward or pay what- 
ever, and only stipulated for the reimbursement of such 
sums as he might expend in the public service. Ac- 
cordingly, at the conclusion of the war, he gave in to 
Congress the whole of his seven years' expenditure, 
which only amounted to £16,000 Pennsylvania cur- 
rency, or £10,000 sterling. In the eyes of our modern 
British generals, the above circumstances will prove 
totally incredible, or, at least, they will deem Mr. 
Washington little better than a fool ; for, if we judge 
from certain accounts, £10,000 would scarcely have 
answered the demands of a commander-in-chief at New 
York a single month" 

But to record all the praises of Washington would be 
a hopeless task. Friends and enemies concur in repre- 
senting him —the former in their enthusiasm, the latter 
in their forced admissions, as the greatest and best of 
men. 

So just, so wise, so benefi'cial, so far above the tone 
of vulgar heroes, was the Father of our Country, that 
but a small proportion of what is interesting about 
him can be given in any book. His praise is every 
where ; he has no competitors, he stands alone. We 
Americans should strive to know him, and we can- 
not be grateful enough to the kind Providence that 
guarded our national infancy, for providing a father 
whom we need not fear to search out, and whom in all 
things we may be proud to imitate. 



HOW CAN WE BE THANKFUL ENOUGH ? 501 

A true warrior, yet no Napoleon, he bore the 
sword with hands unsoiled, wielded it for peace and 
not for conquest, laid it down more gladly than he 
took it up, and used it to make friends even of his ene- 
mies. 

History, which shows us many a more dazzling 
character, shows none so grandly consistent, so splendid 
in disinterestedness, so free from conceit, yet so deter- 
mined in duty, so true and tender in friendship, yet 
able to put aside every personal consideration when 
the good of the country and the great cause of Free- 
dom were in question. What maimer of people ought 
we to be in return for this great gift ? Let us bless 
God that America, having produced one such son, may 
bring forth others like him, when the day of trial shall 
come, as it may come, even to us, favored as we are 
above all the nations of the earth. There is more hope, 
not less, of another "Washington, from having had the 
first. 

We say of a great genius, like Shakspeare or Ea- 
phael, that he is inimitable. But Washington was not 
a genius in the ordinary acceptation of that term. His 
perfections, the growth of nature, circumstances and 
God's aid and favor combined, are imitable ; on an 
humbler scale. 

Besolute integrity, indefatigable industry, the power 
of deferring self to duty, a feeling of true brotherhood 
towards mankind, and a sincere and habitual desire to 
co-operate with God in doing good to the world, may 



502 MEMOIRS OF WASHINGTON. 

make many a Washington that the world will never 
hear of; not in man's judgment, perhaps, but to the 
All-seeing eye, and to the conscious heart of him who 
is able to devote himself, as Washington did, soul and 
body, heart and*life, to truth, service, and duty. 



A PPENDIX. 



No. I. 

Mr. Field, a much respected gentleman and philosophical writer, who re- 
sided for many years on the Duke of Northumberland's property at Isle- 
worth, Middlesex, not many miles from London, believed himself to he the 
possessor of an original portrait of Washington's mother, of which lie 
gives the following history, in a letter to Judge Washington: — 

" Sir, — Some time about the year 1787, when I was a boy, an uncle 
of mine pointed out to me a house at Cookham, in Berkshire — a pretty little 
country retreat — which he informed me was the last residence of the parents 
of General Washington in this country, from which they finally removed to 
America. At the same time he took me to a Mrs. Ann Morer, who had 
been in his employment — whose maiden name was (I believe) Taylor, and 
whose mother accompanied your relatives to North America, and was the 
nurse of your immortal ancestor. Such were some of the particulars she 
told me, and at the same time showed me, with a becoming pride, several 
relics — articles of dress and furniture —which had belonged to the Wash- 
ingtons. And I well remember the high value in which she held a work- 
bag made from a dress of Mrs. W. But that which most particularly 
interested me was her portrait, painted in oil, in the manner of Kneller. 
I had been as a child an especial favorite of this woman, who had no chil- 
dren of her own. and she often promised to leave me this portrait when 
she died. 

" It happened many years after, that being in the neighborhood of 
Cookham, I was induced to pay Mrs. Morer a visit, when she again showed 
me her treasures, and informed me two American gentlemen had found 
her out by desire of General Washington, and had presented her with 
some money. 

"Finally, about the year 1812-13, Hannah Taylor, a niece of Mrs. M., 
then servant in my family (at Lucas house, Binley, near Bagshot), informed 
us of her aunt's decease, and of the intended sale of her effects by auction. 



504 APPENDIX. 

I therefore forwarded a request to Hannah's mother to purchase the pic- 
tures for me, which was done accordingly." 

Feeling some interest in this curious topic, and heing in England in 
1854, the present writer called upon Mr. Field, heard from his own lips 
a confirmation of the story, and saw the portrait, which bears a striking 
resemblance, in its leading traits, to those of the Washington family. Mr. 
Field, who died soon after, was a most amiable and entirely trustworthy 
person, enjoying the highest esteem from a large circle of distinguished 
friends. He was surrounded by works of art, and, being confined to the 
house by long ill-health, had made his pretty English cottage a little para- 
dise of books and other objects of interest. The writer afterwards visited 
Cookham, saw the spot reputed in England as the birthplace of Washing- 
ton, but could gather nothing further in the course of a morning's hasty 
observation. 



No. II. 

Mr. Weems gives the following story as from an " old lady of Freder- 
icksburg : " — 

" I dreamt," said the mother of Washington, " that I was sitting in the 
piazza of a large new house, into which we had but lately moved. George, 
at that time about five years old, was in the garden with his corn-stalk 
plough, busily running furrows in the sand, in imitation of Negro Dick, in 
whose ploughing George was so interested that it was sometimes difficult 
to get him to dinner. 

" And so, as I was sitting in the piazza at my work, I suddenly heard 
in my dream a kind of roaring noise on the eastern side of the house. On 
running out to see what was the matter, I beheld a dreadful sheet of fire 
bursting from the roof. The sight struck me with a horror that took away 
my strength, and threw me almost senseless on the ground. My husband 
and the servants, as I saw in my dream, soon came up, but, like myself,, 
were so terrified at the sight that they could make no attempt to extin- 
guish the flames. In this most distressing state the image of my little 
son came, I thought, to my mind, more dear and tender than ever ; and 
turning towards the garden where he was engaged with his corn-stalk 
plough, I screamed out twice, with all my might — George ! George ! In 
a moment, as I thought, he threw down his mimic plough, aud ran to me, 
saying, ' High, ma ! what makes you call so angry ! aint I a good boy — 
don't I always run to you as soon as I hear you call ? ' I could make no 
reply, but just threw up my arms towards the flame. He looked up and 



APPENDIX. 505 

saw the house all on fire ; but, instead of bursting out a crying, as might 
have been expected from a child, he instantly brightened up, and seemed 
ready to fly to extinguish it. But first looking at me with great tender- 
ness, he said — ' Oh, ma ! don't be afraid ; God will help us, and we shall 
soon put it out.' His looks and words revived our spirits in so wonderful a 
manner, that we all instantly set about to assist him. A ladder was pres- 
ently brought, on which, as I saw in my dream, he ran up with the nimble- 
ness of a squirrel, and the servants supplied him with water, which he threw 
on the fire from an American gourd. But that growing weaker, the flames 
appeared to gain ground, breaking forth and roaring most dreadfully, 
which so frightened the servants that many of them, like persons in despair, 
began to leave him. But he, still undaunted, continued to ply it with wa- 
ter, animating the servants at the same time, both by his words and ac- 
tions. For a long time the contest appeared very doubtful ; but at length 
a venerable old man, with a tall cap and an iron rod in his hand, like a 
lightning rod, reached out to him a curious little trough, like a wooden 
shoe ! On receiving this, he redoubled his exertions, and soon extinguished 
the fire. Our joy on the occasion was unbounded. But he, on the con- 
trary, showing no more of transport now than of terror before, looked 
rather sad at sight of the great harm that had been done. Then I saw in 
my dream that after some time spent in deep thought, he called out, with 
much j<>y, ' Well, ma ! now if you and the family will but consent, we can 
make a far better roof thau this ever was ; a roof of such a quality, that 
if well kept together, it will last for ever ; but if you take it apart, you 
will make the house ten thousand times worse than it was before.' 

This, though certainly a very curious dream, needs no Daniel to interpret 
it ; especially if we take Mrs. Washington's new house, for the young Colony 
Government — the fire on its east side, for North's civil war— the gourd 
which Washington first employed, for the American three and six months' 
enlistments — the old man with his cap and iron rod, for Doctor Franklin— 
the shoe-like vessel which he reached to Washington, for the Sabot or 
wooden-shoed nation, the French, whom Franklin courted a long time for 
America— and the new roof proposed by Washington, for a standi, honest 
Republic— that " equal government," which, by guarding alike the welfare 
of all, ought by all to be so heartily beloved as to endure for ever." 

No. III. 

Lafayette was but eighteen years old when he happened to dine in com- 
pany with the Duke of Gloucester, brother of King George III., and heard 
the contest between England and America discussed by the duke and his 



506 APPENDIX. 

friends, the character and conduct of " the rebels " being, of course, very 
severely treated. His interest was so strongly excited that he asked many 
questions of the duke, and felt himself, in spite of the most unfavorable 
representations, deeply interested in the idea of people's battling for their 
liberty under so many discouraging circumstances. Before he left the 
company, he had conceived the project of going in person to the aid of this 
struggling people. Returning to Paris, Lafayette procured an introduction 
to Silas Deane, then one of our commissioners for obtaining the alliance 
of France, and was by Mr. Deane's representations confirmed in his desire 
to take part in the patriotic struggle. The loss of Port Washington and 
other unlucky accidents very much dampened the courage of the friends 
of the cause, but Lafayette was above such hasty conclusions. " My zeal 
and love of liberty," said he, "have perhaps hitherto been my prevailing 
motives ; but now I see a chance for usefulness, which I had not anticipa- 
ted. I have money ; I will purchase a ship, which shall convey to Amer- 
ica myself, my companions, and the freight for Congress." 

"While the vessel was getting ready, Lafayette visited England, in per- 
formance of a previous agreement with a friend, and was there treated 
with all the attention and courtesy due to his high rank aud distinguished 
connections. 

When he had been three weeks in London, he received private intelli- 
gence that his vessel was ready, and breaking away from all that was most 
interesting in England, he immediately set out for Prance. 

So delicate was his sense of honor, that he declined an invitation from 
one of the royal dukes to visit the dock-yards at Portsmouth, where the 
naval armament was then being fitted for the American war, lest he should 
seem to have taken an undue advantage of his position. 

He met with many difficulties and much opposition before he could even 
reach his vessel. A Icttre de cachet, a terrible thing in those days, was sent 
after him, but he eluded it, and by stealth sailed for America, accompanied 
by the Baron de Kalb and eleven other officers of different ranks, seeking 
service in America. On the voyage, he employed himself, though sea-sick, 
with studying English, and also with reading works on military tactics. 
Lafayette desired the captain to sail directly for the United States, but 
this the gentleman was by no means disposed to do, urging the probability 
of their being taken by some British cruiser, and sent to Halifax as prison- 
ers for nobody knew how long. 

Lafayette stood out for his rights, as owner ; the captain remained un- 
yielding, until the young hero threatened to supersede him aud put the sec- 
ond officer in his place. Upon which it came out that the captain had on 
board eio-ht thousand dollars' worth of goods for sale on his own account, 



APl'KNDTX. :)() ~ 

party of marauders from the enemy's vessel, Before gainW a dm luce 
it was demanded of them who they were and what they wanted ' 

_ Baron de Kalb was their interpreter, he having before been in Amer 
ica, and acquired some facility in speaking the English langua^ 

At length suspicions were removed, and the strangers were received 
with a corral welcome and a generous hospitality. Lafayette ret " 

slvTITd A ^r kSt attai - dt1 ^— «* * wishes, and 2 
safely landed in America, beyond the reach of his pursuer, 

the In' 6 Ttf "T b6aUtiful - The n ° velty of ev< *7 thi "S ™™* bK 
the 100m the bed with mosquito curtains, the black servants who came to 

ascertain his wants, the beauty and strange appearance of the country H 
he saw it from his window, clothed in luxuriant verdure, all conspired' to 
produce a magical effect, and to impress him with indescribable sensations 
He found himself in the house of Major Huger, a gentleman not more re- 
markable for his hospitality than for his worth and highly respectable 
character. Major Huger provided horses to convey him and his compan- 
ions to Charleston. The vessel likewise went into Charleston harbor." 
_ In one of Lafayette's letters to his wife,— for tbis boy of nineteen had a 

wife and two children — he writes : 

"As to my own reception, it has been most agreeable in every quarter, 
and to have come with me secures the most flattering welcome. I have 
just passed five hours at a grand dinner, given in honor of me by an indi- 
vidual of this city. Generals Howe and Moultrie, and several officers of 
my suite, were present. We drank healths and tried to talk English. I 
begin to speak it a little. To-morrow I shall go with these gentlemen and 
call on the Governor of the State, and make arrangements for my depart- 
ure. The next day the commanding officers here will show me tbe city 
and its environs, and then I shall set out for the army. 

" Considering the pleasant life I lead in this country, my sympathy with 
the people, which makes me feel as much at ease in their society as if I 
had known them for twenty years ; the similarity between their mode of 
thinking and my own, and my love of liberty and of glory, one might sup- 
pose that I am very happy. But you are not with me ; my friends are not 
with me ; and there is no happiness for me far from you and them.*' 



508 APPENDIX. 

At Philadelphia Lafayette presented himself at the door of Congress, 
but received a very discouraging answer to his first application. He was 
told there were so many French gentlemen applying for situations in the 
army that his chance was very slender. Who can wonder that the strip- 
ling should not at first sight have inspired any body with much respect for 
his efficiency as a soldier ? 

But the aspect of things changed materially when he made an applica- 
tion in writing to be allowed to act as a volunteer, without pay. 

Here he put himself, at once, in one particular, on a level with the 
commander-in-chief, whose refusal of all pecuniary compensation had 
given him throughout such an immeasurable advantage. 

The result was that Lafayette received the commission of a major-gen- 
eral in the army of the United States, when he was not quite twentyyears 
of age. 

Washington, in the very first instance, invited him to make head-quar- 
ters his home, adding, in a tone of pleasantry, " that he could not prom- 
ise him the luxuries of a court, or even the conveniences which his former 
habits might have rendered essential to his comfort, but, since he had be- 
come an American soldier, he would doubtless contrive to accommodate 
himself to the character he had assumed, and submit with a good grace to 
the customs, manners, and privations of a republican army." If Lafayette 
was made happy by his success with Congress, his joy was redoubled by 
this flattering proof of friendship and regard on the part of the commander- 
in-chief. 

" His horses and equipage were immediately sent to camp, and ever 
afterwards, even when he had the command of a division, he kept up his 
intimacy at head-quarters, aud enjoyed all the advantages of a member 
of the general's family." 

From this time the commander-in-chief felt that he had a friend, and 
the warmth of his expression towards the marquis is hardly excelled by 
even the vivacious tenderness of the young enthusiast for himself. Wash- 
ington's letters to his friends are warm and friendly, as well as candid and 
confiding, but to Lafayette he always, after they became well acquainted, 
writes in a tone of affection which bears testimony to the worth of both — 
the man of forty-six and the yoiith of twenty. 

Washington had a universal interest in rising young men, no matter of 
what country or party. All his experience of the tmworthiness of men of 
riper age — and it must have been sadly extensive — never chilled his hope- 
ful feelings toward the young. This shows itself every where, throughout 
his life and letters. The importance of those forming influences by which 
the bent of a whole life is often decided, was habitually dwelt upon by him 



APPENDIX. 500 

in his intercourse with the young ; and when he saw a young man entering 
upon his career with clear, open brow and vigorous step, he loved him, and 
was always rejoiced to advance and favor him. Lafayette and Hamilton 
were boys in age when Washington trusted the most important secrets and 
the weightiest affairs to their ability and zeal if not to their judgment. He 
had older advisers, but he made chosen friends and daily companions of 
the gallant young fellows who had thrown themselves into a well-nigh des- 
perate cause with such generous ardor. 

This is of so frequent occurrence as to be considered a characteristic 
trait ; and it is enough, even unsupported by a thousand other things, to 
disprove the opinion only too prevalent, that Washington was cold, unsvm- 
pathizing, if not morose. His affections were often overruled, or even 
crushed, by prudence or disappointment, but they were naturally warm and 
tender, especially toward the young. 

Lafayette was not the only very youthful friend whose aid and support 
were very precious to Washington during the darkest period of the Revolu- 
tion. In 1777, the extraordinary ability and merit of Alexander Hamil- 
ton, then not twenty years old, induced Washington to invite him to be- 
come a member of his military family, and he was accordingly appointed 
his aide-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. This was the pe- 
riod of Washington's greatest popularity, as well as one of extreme diffi- 
culty in affairs, and it brought around him in cordial union a great number 
of leading spirits. Danger and privation, with only enough of success to 
prevent absolute despondency, had united, heart and hand, this gallant 
company. The common cause absorbed all petty interests ; private dis- 
tresses and losses were not thought of, in comparison with the great boon 
which then began to seem within their reach. Greene, Sullivan, Knox, 
Cadwallader, were grouped about the commander-in-chief, so that wc 
hardly think of them separately at this time. 

Robert H. Harrison, of Maryland, known at the time as the " Old 
Secretary," had stood first among the aids, a man of talent, discretion, and 
probity, with that frank and generous temper which Washington Loved. 
Tilghman and Meade, younger men, shared the wearing duties of the 
household ; but when young Hamilton, then twenty years of age, accepted 
a similar post, he soon attained, by simple right of ability and merit, the 
position of principal and confidential aid. His personal qualities may be 
guessed by the fact, reported by Mrs. Hamilton, that Washington used to 
call him " my boy,'' while the public called him " the little lion." 

It speaks well for all these gallant young men that for five years they 
lived together, intrusted with the most various as well as difficult and ex- 
hausting duties, yet maintaining perfect harmony and friendship among 



510 APPENDIX. 

themselves. The pen of Hamilton was most in demand, and there were 
times when his acuteness, his fearless spirit, and his graceful as well as 
forcible style, were of the highest service. In the negotiation rendered ne- 
cessary by the unlucky capture of General Lee, " the pen for our army," 
says a contemporary, " was held by Hamilton, and for dignity of manner, 
pith of matter, and elegance of style, General Washington's letters are un- 
rivalled in military annals." 

So immense was the press of business at this time, that, with his four 
able aids hard at work, Washington applied to Congress for more assistance, 
saying that many valuable documents were in danger of being lost for 
want of proper copying and registering. 

It was by means of the application of the aids and his own inexhaust- 
ible care and forethought, that the history of the campaigns of the Revo- 
lution is so minute and complete. Washington felt that the time would 
come when the picture of those troublous days, and some particular know- 
ledge of the men who acted and suffered in them, would be infinitely pre- 
cious to those who were to profit by them. If he had attempted, like 
Csesar, to describe his own wars for the benefit of posterity, he would if 
possible have omitted his own personal share in them ; yet he set a noble 
value on fame, and, above all, desired that all he had done should be open 
to examination and scrutiny, so that both friends and enemies might be 
fully satisfied. His avoidance, whether systematic or instinctive, of all ref- 
erence to his own merit in success is remarkable. Even in his private let- 
ters, the general account is almost impersonal, unless some particular offi- 
cer is mentioned with praise, while his own share is usually unmentioned. 

In a letter from Colonel Hamilton to General Schuyler, dated February 
18th, 1781, we find the following:— 

" My Dear Sir, — * * * An unexpected change has taken place 
in my situation. I am no longer a member of the general's family. This 
information will surprise you, and the manner of it will surprise you more. 
Two days ago the general and I passed each other upon the stairs ; he told 
me he wanted to speak to me — I told him I would wait upon him imme- 
diately. I went below and delivered Mr. Tilghmau a letter to be sent to 
the commissary, containing an order of a pressing and interesting nature. 

" Returning to the general, I was stopped en the way by the Marquis 
dc Lafayette, and we conversed together about a minute on a matter of 
business. He can* testify how impatient I was to get back, and that I left 
him in a manner which, but for our intimacy, would have been more than 
abrupt. 



APPENDIX. 52] 

"Instead of finding the general, as is usual, in his room, I met him at 
the head of the stairs, when, accosting me in an angry tone, ' Colonel 
Hamilton,' said he, ' you have kept me waiting at the head of the stairs 
these ten minutes ; I must tell you, sir, you treat me with disrespect.' I 
replied, without petulancy, ' I am not conscious of it, sir, but since you 
have thought it necessary to tell me so, we part.' ' Very well sir ' said 
he, ' if it be your choice,' or something to that effect, and we separated 
I sincerely believe my absence, which gave so much umbrage, did not last 
two minutes. 

" In less than an hour after, Tilghman came to me, in the general's 
name, assuring me of his great confidence in my abilities, integrity, useful- 
ness, etc., and of his desire, in a candid conversation, to heal a difference 
which could not have happened but in a moment of passion." 

This, however, Colonel Hamilton refused. He had always disliked the 
office of an aide-de-camp, and had declined serving in that capacity until 
tempted by the high estimate he had formed of the character of Washing- 
ton. He proceeds to say, " It has been often with great difficulty I have 
prevailed on myself not to renounce it ; but while, from motives of public 
utility, I was doing violence to my feelings, I was always determined, if 
ever there was a breach between us, never to consent to an accommoda- 
tion." 

In attempting to give a true idea of Washington's character, so striking 
an instance as this could not fairly be omitted. Washington, devoted body 
and soul to the public interest, harassed by a pressure of affairs too great 
for mortal ability, had a few noble and faithful spirits about him, on whom 
his soul rested, amid all trials and discouragements, with all that trust and 
confidence which only noble souls can feel. With one of these dear friends, 
a highly gifted one, but scarcely even yet more than a boy in years, he is 
vexed, justly or unjustly, it matters not ; he is vexed, and he speaks to him 
hastily and unbecomingly. The youthful aid, high-toned, and self-reliant 
by nature, and conscious of past services beyond his years, replies in a 
manner far from conciliatory, and withdraws, leaving his general, a man 
double his age, standing where he had been waiting the return of his aid, 
whom he needed for urgent business. But very soon, "in less than an 
hour," we are told, the elder man sends a virtual apology to the young man, 
desiring a conversation which shall end in a reconciliation. 

Without commenting upon Hamilton's mode of meeting this request, 
which does notseemto have appeared to Washington unbecoming although 
it declined his offer of a complete restoration of personal intimacy, wo 



512 APPENDIX. 

cannot but think, that Washington, though in fault in the first instance, 
appears in a peculiarly noble attitude in the last. 

His sense of justice was so ready, and his power over himself so uni- 
form, that there is no doubt he felt humbled by the recollection of his hasty 
words and imperious manner towards one who had served him so long and 
so well. So many men might have felt, but few perhaps would have con- 
fessed the feeling to one who had responded so haughtily, and continued to 
decline a restoration to intimacy. 

The impetuous young secretary sincerely believes his absence " did not 
last two minutes." No doubt he did, yet with our knowledge of Washing- 
ton's habitual accuracy, we may venture to suppose the latter nearer right 
than the former, and every one knows how irritating it is to the meekest 
temper to be kept waiting, apparently, without necessity. Besides wo 
have reason to suppose the general tone of Hamilton to have been one 
rather trying to a man so much his senior in years and his superior in 
military rank. 

A man of different stamp might be suspected of seeking a reconcilia- 
tion from motives of policy, as the able secretary could so ill be spared ; but 
Washington's whole life and character would stamp with absurdity such :ui 
imputation. General Lafayette says he found each disposed to believe the 
other was not sorry for the separation. It is pleasant to know that these 
two great men, with all the difference in their age, in their turns of mind 
and traits of character, continued friends, with undiminished esteem for 
each other. 

Washington still asked Hamilton's counsel, which was never refused, 
and in after years they were again associated, with all their original inti- 
macy, and more than the original respect. 

This incident calls to mind and with more claim to belief than is usu- 
al]}'' due to flying traditions, the story that a lawyer, named Payne, once 
knocked young George Washington down, in a public court-room ; and 
that after retiring with his friends to the tavern for the purpose of arrang- 
ing a " a hostile meeting " — in common parlance, a duel — Washington, on 
reflection, went to his assailant, saying — " Mr. Payne, I was wrong yester- 
day, let me be right to-day," and offered his hand, which was cordially ac- 
cepted. 

As this affair is said to have taken place after Washington had amply 
proved his courage, it may not have cost him any great sacrifice of feeling 
to apologize ; but from what we know of his character in after life, we could 
imagine him capable of apologizing in any case whatsoever, if he were once 
convinced he had been in the wrong. 

An eminently just person he certainly was. Even in his dealings with 



APPENDIX. 513 

his servants we see a constant reference, not to his power, but to his sense 
of right. 

He settles all disputed points on general grounds of right, and gives his 
reasons whenever he is obliged to insist upon any thing with an inferior. 
Hard to please he may well have been, for the sense of justice and honesty 
which regulated so scrupulously his own dealings, made him sensitive to 
the obligations and the carelessness of others ; and the patience with which 
he persisted in working out the performance of his own obligations, was 
equally obvious in the pertinacity with which he insisted on his right from 
other people. Many of bis letters under these circumstances are labored 
arguments, though written generally in conversational style, and enlivened 
by touches of caustic humor, though always carefully guarded against 
an overbearing tone, and frequently avowing a consciousness of fallibility 
of judgment. 

He says, in regard to some failure in an overseer — " This was my in- 
tention, but either I did not express myself clearly, or the directions were 
not attended to. 

" I now hope they will be understood and attended to both." " There 
is one thing I cannot forbear to add, and in strong terms : it is that when- 
ever I order a thing to be done, it must be done, or a reason given at the 
time, or as soon as the impracticability is discovered, why it cannot, which 
will produce a countermand or change. But it is not for the person re- 
ceiving the order to suspend or dispense with its execution, and, after it 
has been supposed to have gone into effect, for me to be told that nothing 
has been done in it ; that it will be done, or could not be done. Either 
of these is unpleasant and disagreeable to me, having been accustomed all 
my life to more regularity and punctuality, and knowing that nothing is 
required but system and method to accomplish all reasonable requests." 

A man of this stamp may be strict, but he cannot be called severe. It 
is true, slack and inefficient people are apt to dislike such a master, be- 
cause exactness is odious to their disposition and habits. But the laws of 
nature may as well be quarrelled with, because they do not vacillate for 
the accommodation of the unready. This unchangeable adherence to 
principle, however distressingly it may operate in particular cases, is most 
merciful and beneficial on the whole. In the case of Captain Asgill, se- 
lected to die in retaliation for the murder of Captain Huddy by the Brit- 
ish, the distress of "Washington is apparent in all he Bays and does, but he 
never thought of yielding ; because as he writes, " Justice to the army and 
the public, my own honor, and, I think I may venture to say, universal be- 
nevolence, require the resolution to be carried into full execution." 

It has been said, and attempted to be proved, that the merit of Wash- 



514 APPENDIX. 

ington's letters is largely due to the literary skill of his aids, particularly 
of Hamilton ; but this is amply disproved by a perusal of the whole cor- 
respondence, extending over so many years, in which there is a remarkable 
uniformity not only of thought but of style. Making all deductions for a 
certain stiffness, and occasional error in construction, Washington's letters 
are models in their way, and as a whole, among the most remarkable of 
his performances. 

We must, however, in all candor, tell our young readers that he was all 
the earlier part of his life a careless speller. We say a careless speller, 
because he would often spell the same word right and wrong alternately, 
Even the proper names of his own family and friends are spelled differently 
at different times. It would seem that he was so intent upon the thing he 
was writing about, be it what it might, that he thought little or nothing 
about the spelling. 

Now we cannot praise our hero for this, even allowing that it was oc- 
casioned by his earnestness about more important matters. Bad spelling 
is a bad thing, and generally shows want of observation and habits of inac- 
curacy. But we may point to 'Washington's habitual accuracy in eveiy 
other particular, as a shining example, and as a reason for tracing these 
trifling errors in spelling to some other cause. 

In the first place let us observe, that in his time, and in this new and 
busy country, little attention had yet been paid to literature ; while if the 
cities even had made some advance in that direction, the country, and par- 
ticularly that part of it where Washington lived, was too full of Indian 
wars and other stirring business in which it fell to his lot to take a promi- 
nent part, to permit him to give his attention to nicety in points unessen- 
tial. That he was not alone among brother planters in carelessness on this 
point, may be seen from the following curious specimen of orthography, 
found among his papers. It is the certificate verbatim of somebody to a 
departing overseer : — " This is to certifie that Henry McCoy has served me 
in the Compacity as an Overseer for this last two years which he had the 
Management of Ten Hand the first year and I think him very Caperbel of 
he is a very Industrious obligen Man Given under my hand this 27 of No- 
vember 1792. 

« R_ B. " 

But it must further be observed, that some instances of what seems to 
us now like bad spelling, are in reality only old-fashioned spelling. Many 
changes have gradually been adopted, and in Horace Walpole, and many 
other English writers of Washington's day, we find decided departures from 
the mode now in vogue. In a book published in Tonson in 1735, which 



APPENDIX. 515 

wc happen to see at this moment, we find capitals used ad libitum, as flras : 
— " I remember a Saying of King Charles II., on Sir Matthew Hales, (who 
was doubtless an Uncorrupt and Upright Man), that his Servants were 
sure to be cast in a Tiyal." And in the same book Satire is spelt Satyr, 
and gewgaw, gugaw— easy, easie ; dye, dy'd, for die and died. Another 
book published by Miller and Pdvington in 1748, has "All the great gen- 
ius's for geniuses ; Chanels for channels ; Lye for lie ; falsly for falsely." 

It is only Washington's early and constant painstaking in whatever 
he pretended to do, that makes it at all worth while to apologize for his 
spelling. His school exercises were so carefully written, and his letters 
when a young man bore so many marks of solicitous attention to style, 
that we are naturally a little surprised to find, further on, some appearance 
of slight in minute points. 

But there was probably no time during the last century, when it was 
the fashion among hard-riding Virginia planters to care much about the 
non-essentials of correspondence. To write truth, good sense and patriot- 
ism, in fair, business language, was evidently considered of the highest 
importance. Not words but things occupied the minds of men prominent 
on the stage. Comparatively few of Washington's contemporaries, on this 
side of the water, had received a university education ; and the gentlemen 
planters had, in general, picked up all they knew of letters at country 
schools of no great pretensions. That this was Washington's own case 
we have seen; and whatever may have been Mr. Williams's pedagogi- 
cal reputation at Pope's Creek and thereabouts, it may well be doubted 
whether he would now take a high rank among his brethren of the ferule. 
After all, the words which strike our nineteenth century eyes as incor- 
rectly spelled in the Washington MSS. are but few; and if we should pick 
out from among them all those the spelling of which has changed since 
that time, the amount of those which show carelessness or ignorance, is, 
in reality, very small. 

On the other hand, what unwearied patience, what minuteness, what 
ease, what natural elegance, do we find in the vast body of letters which 
his industry has left us. Not alone in the grand, massive public epistles, 
which are every where marked with the essential elements of his char 
ter — those high qualities which made him what he was, to us and to the 
•world — b u t in the most ordinary private note of business, an order for 
goods, an account of the shipping of tobacco; a word of caution to a care- 
less manager, or of reproof to a delinquent debtor;— in all and every 
specimen we see the unconscious superiority of the man, in words which 
evidently flowed from his pen, as the readiest and simplest expression of his 
earnest thoughts. 



516 APPENDIX. 

It is true no single letter is a wonderful performance ; we would not 
be understood as claiming that kind of eminence for Washington. Many- 
men have written superior letters ; but no man, it may safely be said, so 
many good ones, on such a multiplicity of subjects. 

To know any thing of their power and might we must read the eleven 
large volumes selected from them by Mr. Sparks. The manuscript letters 
extend to eighty volumes. 



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THE END 



